


why don't you step to me?

by chikoo



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Hellboy Fusion, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, M/M, Mythology References, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Romance, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Urban Fantasy, and maybe some booty, berserker!yunho, character growth uwu, chuu is a powerful telepath doctor and we love to see it, found family uwu, gumiho!yeo, lamia!hwa, mentions of childhood trauma, mentions of foster care, mysterious!san, necromancer!joong, pyromancer!mingi, siren!woo, this is now longer and more plot heavy than i intended but its still my baby, this is so much softer than i planned omg, troll!jongho, yunho big baby he just wants a home:(
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:07:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21586309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chikoo/pseuds/chikoo
Summary: San sighs dramatically and lies down on the couch, a little sliver of the inside of his thigh on display. He lifts his head up and Yunho wrenches his eyes away from the exposed skin and finds San looking at him with an unreadable expression. Then San smiles wide, eyes crinkling, little dimples on the sides of his cheeks.“Welcome to the rest of your life, Yunho. I look forward to being a part of it.”Or Hellboy!Au where Yunho has absolutely no clue what he is but at least he's not the only one.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Jung Wooyoung, Choi San/Jeong Yunho, Kang Yeosang/Park Seonghwa, Kim Hongjoong/Song Mingi
Comments: 43
Kudos: 188





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> henlo guys! 
> 
> i,,, have no idea what this is asjkdfhlk but well, we're going with it!!!
> 
> if you have any questions with the lore/references i've used, feel free to comment and ask! 
> 
> i hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> there's only 1 more chapter and i'm gonna try and have it up by this weekend yeet

The last thing Yunho remembers is blood.  _ Pain, skin tearing, blood everywhere, screaming, so much screaming.  _ When he wakes up, it’s with a headache so awful his head feels like it’s been ripped open. And to a man standing in front of a window, dressed in slacks and a long black coat. 

He doesn’t recognise the room he’s in. It’s big, cream walls, ornate furniture and beams on the roof, like a room out of a 19th-century home. But then he sees the large monitors next to his bed, beeping periodically, registers the IV drip he’s been hooked to and the presence of another person sitting in front of the screens, furiously typing something. The person suddenly straightens and stills. Then he turns around and looks straight at Yunho. His face is smooth and impassive, handsome, almost eerily perfect. But his eyes are what make Yunho shiver. They’re a strange colour, a greenish-gold, slit down the middle. Like a snake’s. 

“Eden.”

The man at the window turns around at the word and fixes Yunho with a soft smile. Yunho can feel himself twitch in agitation. But there’s something wrong. The noise in his head that usually drowns him in its intensity and violence feels subdued, clamped down. Yunho can feel something roiling just under his skin but it’s an irritant at best. Not all-consuming. He isn’t sure whether to be relieved at the silence or to panic. The man, Eden he presumes, holds his hands up to Yunho as if sensing his anxiety. The man near his bedside comes closer, arms crossed at his chest. He’s still staring at Yunho with those strange eyes and every time Yunho looks at him, he feels a little breathless, as if he can’t move. 

“Jeong Yunho, you don’t have to be afraid, we mean you no harm. In fact, we’d like to help you, if you’d like us to.”

Eden speaks in a calm, soothing manner, Yunho can’t really smell anything suspicious on him. But the beast is still restless and Yunho can’t figure out why until a strange scent fills his nose, and makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The man standing near him shifts a little and the scent swells. Yunho sits up on the small bed and crouches, ready to spring, facing the other man who just blinks at him. Eden makes a small noise and huffs. 

“Seonghwa stop scaring him. We discussed this,” he admonishes the other man, Seonghwa, who rolls his eyes and moves further away. Eden looks back at Yunho and smiles again. 

“I’m very sorry about Seonghwa, he still gets quite instinctual around other predator-types,” says Eden and Seonghwa huffs. 

What does that even _mean? _Yunho looks around the room a little wildly. Where the fuck is he? What brought him here? The last thing he knew was trying to make it to work on time, feeling weirdly sick and freezing cold on a sweltering hot and crowded subway. _Threatening man shouting into his face, can’t remember what, spit spraying out of his mouth, white face red with misplaced anger. Hands slapping at his face, everyone else silent, just watching, filming, how dare they, so much pain_ and then nothing. The pain in his head intensifies and Yunho’s vision whites out for a moment. When he can see again, Eden is sitting on the bed with him, looking worried, saying something. 

“Yunho? Is everything alright? Seonghwa, up the dosage, he’s still in pain.”

He panics, writhing on the bed, trying to shove the IV out of his arm and suddenly he’s being pinned to the wall near the bed, Seonghwa’s eerie eyes staring into his threateningly. 

“Calm down. It’s a sedative, nothing else. I promise you if we wanted to kill you, you’d be long gone. I don’t fuck around with prey,” Seonghwa says, voice soft and blank. 

He backs off and Yunho falls back down with a thud, struggling to breathe around the horrible, clawing feeling in his chest. The sedative must start working soon though, because he comes down easier, panic dissipating the slightest bit. When his mind is less foggy, he looks towards Eden.

“What is this place? Who are you people? What am I doing here?”

Eden straightens up and nods at Yunho’s barrage of questions. He clasps his hands and says, “Yunho, My name is Eden. I am part of a governmental organisation that essentially researches and handles matters of the, ah, paranormal. The agents of this organisation are not exactly all  _ humans.  _ They are beings with abilities, or biologies beyond the mundane. Like you, Yunho. On paper, we don’t exist. But the world isn’t exactly as empty as humans think and the need for an organisation like this is dire.”

Yunho blinks. It sounds like he’s stepped right into the midst of a movie.  _ Supernatural organisation? _

_ _ “Okayy. You want me to be a part of this organisation, I guess?” Yunho asks, sceptical and bemused. Eden nods encouragingly. “How did you find me?”

“We’re affiliated with the government, Yunho, any incident that pops on their radar was on ours first. Naturally, we also have a number of agents here who can foresee events or people. It is not always accurate and definitely not a good way of finding those who need our help; technology is a far more foolproof method. Seonghwa here saw a vision of you in a harrowing situation, the ordeal that has led you to us in this state, unfortunately,” Eden murmurs, voice tinged with sadness. 

Yunho frowns in confusion and looks down at himself and gasps at the coils of bandages around his stomach. He hadn’t even noticed it, the anxiety quelling the dull pain that now begins to emit from his abdomen, travelling all the way around to his back and down his legs.

“I’m- I did something didn’t I? I just remember being on the train, some racist dude yelling at me and then- it’s blank, I can’t remember anything. I think I may have lost control completely. It only happened once before, when I was a kid, but I was- I was mostly alone,” Yunho mutters, talking to himself almost, trying to piece together everything. His mind is just filled with blurry images of blood. And then it hits him like an axe to the back. 

“I think- Did I, did I hurt anyone?”

He looks at Eden and Seonghwa imploringly. Their eyes betray everything. Yunho takes in a shaky breath, a strange noise buzzing in his head. “I’ve never- no one’s gotten hurt before. H-how many people did I hurt?” His voice sounds so far away from him as if he’s speaking from inside a tunnel. 

Seonghwa purses his lips. He turns around, picks up a phone and starts typing into it. He lifts the screen to show Yunho, a news outlet headline flashing in bold,  **26 KILLED IN SUDDEN GAS EXPLOSION ON TRAIN. ** _ 26. _ There were kids on that train, innocent people. Yunho feels his stomach flip and Seonghwa moves fast, shoving a bin under Yunho as he hurls, throat raw and bruised. 

When he stops dry-heaving, Eden pats his back, offering him water. Yunho drinks it mechanically, hands shaking. He thinks about his family, remembers how the last time he had seen them was when they abandoned him in the middle of a forest, remembers waking up to darkness and panic and blacking out. When he woke again, there were dead animals around him, blood all over him. He hadn’t understood it then but he does now. He understands why his family had gotten rid of him. 

“If you saw me doing this, killing all these people, why didn’t you stop me?” Water spills onto the bed as the glass slips from his hand. 

“We had no idea when it would happen Yunho. You’ve never popped up in our records before either. Or even where, Seonghwa just saw you go into your ber- lose control. As I said, visions are tricky. I’m so very sorry we weren’t able to help. This is not your fault-”

“Of course it is! I killed all those people! Just because I lost control!” Yunho exclaims, voice cracking. 

Seonghwa hums as Eden falls silent. “Yes, it is your fault. But that doesn’t make you a killer. You didn’t do it intentionally. This is your nature. You just need to learn how to control it, not allow it to take over you. That is exactly why we ask you to join us. Most of us have been where you are, we recognise the pain. It is your choice to make.” 

“You’re free to leave as you see fit, Yunho, we cannot control you. All we offer is our help. But unfortunately, certain people will not be very supportive of you reentering the mortal world, as much as I regret saying this, you have become a threat,” Eden says gravely. 

Yunho’s eyes widen. Of course, a governmental organisation, he’s in a governmental facility and they’re going to lock him away. Oh god. 

“It’s not what you think Yunho, we have no intentions of keeping you prisoner here. But we can provide you with our help, teach you how to control yourself, use your abilities for good. We’ll handle everything, your jobs, clear out your apartment, bring all your belongings here, it’s no problem at all,” Eden says, attempting to placate him. “If you choose not to, I will do my best to figure out a way for you to go back to your life but it would be under very heavy supervision.”

Yunho trembles, mind racing. He has so many questions, so many fears. He’s not sure he can really trust them but Seonghwa’s very presence suggests that people,  _ monsters  _ like him actually exist. He’s not alone. He’s spent his whole life on his own, transferred from home to home, terrified of the thing inside him. Eden’s right, he knows he can’t go back. He can’t go back to the multiple part-time jobs, the damp apartment, the loneliness of existing and not knowing a single thing about himself. He wants to fix himself, get rid of  _ it _ . He wants to be  _ cured.  _ He takes a deep breath. 

“Okay. I want- I  _ need _ your help.”

Seonghwa claps his hands together, beaming wide and Yunho can see rows of sharp, gleaming teeth. 

“Wonderful! Another child to babysit,” he says sarcastically and yelps when Eden swats at him. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Yunho passes out not soon after. When he wakes again, it’s to Seonghwa’s face uncomfortably close to his, a set of clothes in his hands. He tells him Yunho’s been asleep for four days straight, he’s all but healed now. 

“You heal fast, as I suspected,” Seonghwa says breezily.

Yunho sits up groggily, aware of the lack of bandages around his abdomen; but the dull, aching pain still resides. The familiar restless murmur in the back of his head is back; a part of Yunho almost feels relieved at the normalcy it brings. Seonghwa stands next to the bed, having procured a bowl smelling of something delicious from god knows where. Yunho’s stomach grumbles violently in response to the scent and Seonghwa snorts. He hands him the bowl and Yunho downs the contents before realising belatedly that he should have perhaps been a little more suspicious about what’s in it. He pauses right after swallowing the last bit and looks at Seonghwa askance, who just rolls his eyes. 

“Again, if I wanted you dead or injured, you would be already. Anyways, it’s not in the nature of my kind to use such underhanded methods, you insult me,” he says with a sniff. He’s wearing long trousers, a neat shirt tucked into them and a  _ waistcoat _ . Yunho doesn’t want to be rude but he desperately wants to know  _ what  _ exactly Seonghwa is because as of right now, all he can guess is uptight, ancient vampire. He figures asking Seonghwa is a sure way to actually get murdered.

“Get dressed, Eden’s on a job today, so he’s asked me to show you around. And meet everyone else.”

Yunho stands up on uneasy feet, head feeling light. He changes into the clothes Seonghwa had brought him as quickly as possible, spurred on by the impatient tapping of Seonghwa’s expensive-looking dress shoes. The clothes are simple, a pair of black pants and a white shirt. They’re a tiny bit small for him. He wonders whose clothes they are, and what happened to the clothes he was wearing before they brought him here. He looks up at Seonghwa in confusion, ready to ask when the man answers him immediately.

“You’re about my height and build so I’ve just lent you some of my clothes. As for the tasteless outfit you were wearing, let’s just say there wasn’t much of it left when we found you.”

Yunho’s face burns at the implication and he looks down at his body. There’s a thin, jagged scar on his abdomen, barely covered by the almost translucent material of the white shirt. He wonders how he got it, how much damage he must have inflicted to have been able to injure himself. He struggles to swallow around the lump in his throat and starts when Seonghwa begins to move, ushering him out of the room, muttering in a whiny tone,  _ come onn, there’s so much to see, we’ll never get this over with. _

They walk out of the room, into a long corridor adorned with heavy red curtains and massive, floor-length windows reaching up to the high-arching ceilings. There’s a large tapestry hanging on a wall, at least double Yunho’s height. It seems to depict the kind of medieval art he’s seen in books, a portrait of a medieval family. The artwork is so precise, so accurate, Yunho feels like he’s staring at real people, standing behind a transparent curtain. But when he takes a closer look there’s something odd about it, something seems _off. _The eyes of the subjects seem to bore into him, almost _angry. _The beast growls and the hair on Yunho’s arms stands up. Seonghwa notices him looking and hums. 

“You probably don’t want to get too close to that. In Elizabethan England, a man called John Dee believed he could call on and communicate with celestial beings through divination, specifically through scrying. What he brought out was a celestial being, yes, but no angel. It was something so evil, so malevolent that John Dee couldn’t get rid of it and instead, had to figure out a way to contain it. He figured out a way to trap the being in an inanimate object and well, you’re looking right at it.”

Yunho blanches and takes several steps backwards while Seonghwa laughs. 

“I’m kidding! Actually no, I’m really not, there’s a lesser demon trapped in there but it’s fine! We keep it here because one of us is able to control it and make sure the sigils don’t erode. You can even touch it, it’s perfectly safe,” Seonghwa says cheerily, already walking away while Yunho jogs up to him, looking at the terrifying tapestry over his shoulder. 

As they walk, Seonghwa answers some of the many questions Yunho has.

The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense or B.P.R.D was founded by Eden many years ago when it came to light that an insidious cult, involving an alarming number of prominent political figures, were torturing and murdering supernatural beings in an attempt to “absorb” their capabilities. Seonghwa was one of them, saved by Eden and his team. Since then, the organisation has grown tremendously and employs and houses a number of creatures like him. 

“Our purpose is to keep our kind safe. Obviously, some mortals, even here, especially those with high-ranking positions, may not think the same. For them, it’s more along the lines of keeping our kind in check,” Seonghwa mutters icily.

Seonghwa tells him about having a vision of a young man passed out in a pool of blood, bodies all around him, clothes and blood splayed across seats that looked like they were in a train. That’s how they knew it would happen in a train somewhere, but no idea where, when or how. Then a few days later, the organisation had gotten a red alert for an incident on a central train line which is how they were able to make it to Yunho in time and collect him before anyone else arrived. The incident was completely covered up, and the few witnesses raving about something inhuman inflicting carnage were not taken seriously. Yunho wants to ask about what they found, how bad it was, but the words don’t come out. Seonghwa seems to be taking precautions not to go into detail anyways, peeping at Yunho every once in a while with careful eyes. 

“A lot of us here, except for the mortals of course, have a past very similar to yours. I hope meeting everyone else will help you understand yourself better,” says Seonghwa looking at Yunho with an odd expression. He looks  _ kind _ almost and Yunho feels warm for the first time since he woke up. 

“You said you’d had an episode like this before right? Do you remember that one?”

Yunho sighs, “Not really, no. I woke up the same way, surrounded by blood and a few dead rabbits. I didn’t know it at the time but I think I might have killed those animals, if the- what happened in the train is any indication,” he says forlornly. “I was on the outskirts of a camping site and I remember just walking for what felt like hours until someone found me. Everything after that is blurry, I just remember waking up in a foster home ages later.”

Seonghwa hums, brows furrowed. “And you haven’t had any other episodes like these in all that time?”

“No- well, not like this. I, for a very long time I thought I had some sort of illness, something wrong with my brain that made me lose my memory, and then the- the noises, the constant feeling of  _ restlessness.  _ I remember crying a lot, lashing out at people, to the point that my foster parents took me to a doctor but obviously, there was nothing medically wrong. 

And then I think, when I was maybe ten? My foster mom was yelling at me about something and I just- I lashed out, don’t even remember that well but the next thing I knew, my bed was broken, cracked in half, there were- there were claw marks on the sheets. Foster mom was screeching, holding a bat in her hand, repeating  _ oh my god _ over and over again. That’s when I realised there was something wrong with me. Just, nothing that any doctor, or anyone else could explain.”

The memories of his childhood are diaphanous, almost muddy, as if they belong to someone else. Recalling them makes him twitch, the constant thrum under his skin swelling as if in frustration and pain. For a second, Yunho feels like he’s stuck underwater, can’t feel his feet as he walks. 

“Yunho? Hey, look at me.” 

Seonghwa’s voice comes from far away. Slowly, Yunho finds him, just a few inches away. The heaviness in his head dissipates. Seonghwa has a hand on his shoulder and it grounds him a little. 

Seonghwa’s eyes are closed but when he opens them, Yunho breath hitches. His eyes are a milky white, his face tight as if he’s hurt. Slowly the milky white dissipates and the narrow slit reappears. Seonghwa blinks and exhales loudly. 

“That was- wow that was very very painful. I’m very sorry for making you talk about that Yunho, I can see that it brings you a lot of sadness and pain. And I’m sorry you had to go through all of that alone, without knowing anything about your afflictions at all. From now onwards, you will no longer be alone,” he says, firm, squeezing Yunho’s shoulder. 

Yunho’s swallows around the lump in his throat and tries not to blubber like a child onto Seonghwa’s shoulder. Seonghwa opens his mouth to say something else when a loud, shrieking voice interrupts them. 

“Seonghwa hyung! There you are, oh my god. There’s been a crisis,” There’s a figure running up to them, shiny blond hair fluffed up and bouncing. He stops in front of them and looks straight at Yunho with poorly concealed curiosity. “Ooooh, is this the berserker? He looks so sweet, Sannie’s going to love him. What’s your name?”

The man’s last question makes Yunho feel strange; some intense urge rises in him, the urge to walk closer to the man and wrap him up in a hug, touch that glimmering hair, slide his hands around his waist and lower-

“Wooyoung, stop that!” Seonghwa bites out, eyes flashing. The man, Wooyoung, startles and it feels like Yunho can breathe again, heaving and panting. Wooyoung grins at him sheepishly and suddenly, seems to change before his very eyes. Yunho gasps at the sharpness of his teeth, the way his eyes narrow, reptilian and sinister, just like Seonghwa’s. His bare arms are covered in an odd mixture of glinting, green scales and pink downy feathers, ending at the tips of his fingers. Instead of nails, Wooyoung has massive curved talons, thick and sharp. 

“Sorry! I can’t control it very well yet, my voice has only recently matured,” he apologises, still smiling unnaturally wide, teeth gleaming. “Anyways, nice to meet you, newbie!” He turns to Seonghwa and his face falls. 

“Help us. Mingi singed off his eyebrows-”

“That’s nothing new, Wooyoung.”

“Yes, okay but. He accidentally burnt one of Yeosang’s tails _ .” _

“ _ Fuck.” _

“Exactly!”

Seonghwa looks up to the sky and exhales heavily. “Mother, give me strength,” he says in an exhausted tone. He turns to Yunho with an apologetic expression and winces. 

“I’m sorry Yunho but unfortunately, I’m surrounded by overgrown children. Just, follow us and stay  _ back _ . You do not want to get caught up in this, Yeosang is merciless.”

Yunho blinks and then struggles to catch up to Wooyoung and Seonghwa who have somehow already reached the end of the corridor. He follows them as they rush out a doorway and up long, winding stairs. As they clamber over each step, Yunho begins to hear raised voices, loud crashes. 

They reach the top of the stairs and a man stands there with his arms holding something, eyes so wide they look like they might pop out. When Yunho comes closer, he sees a pair of eyes peeping from the man’s arms. There’s a small black cat nestled there, licking at its paw. It stops suddenly and stares intensely at Yunho in that unnerving way cats do. 

“It’s all San’s fault,” the man whispers, jostling the cat in his arms, “He encouraged Mingi and you know Mingi has absolutely no self-restraint.”

Seonghwa walks up to the man, glaring at the cat and tutting. The cat looks back at him innocently and lets out a soft, tiny  _ meow _ . Then it reaches out and butts at Seonghwa’s chest with its head, mewling like its complaining. Wooyoung stands next to Yunho, draped over the bannister, and snickers loudly. 

“San, you little shit,” Seonghwa mutters angrily, but he has a tiny smile on his face and before he walks away he lets the cat lick his hand. Yunho follows him and Wooyoung to the room where the loud voices are coming from, the man jogging after them with the cat still laying prim in his arms. 

The room is scarily large, with long sofas and bookshelves stuffed into the walls in one section, sleek television screens and lounging chairs tucked on the other side. There’s something in the right-hand corner, something that looks like a massive water enclosure, decorated like an aquarium almost, complete with rocks and swaying plants. It takes up a fourth of the room but no one seems to be bothered by it. 

There’s a big table in the centre, Yunho assumes it would have been covered with a tablecloth, a few trinkets, surrounded by comfortable chairs but right now, everything is strewn all over, chairs flipped upside down, table cloth ripped to pieces all over the floor. Instead, there’s a man leaning over the table, held back by someone who looks like he’s really struggling, trying to grab at another man who’s doing his best to make himself as small as possible, curling up like a ball on a chair. The first man looks  _ furious _ , clawing at the air. Yunho blinks rapidly and squints to make sure he’s not seeing things. The dude is literally glowing, a shimmering golden aura pulsating around him. And he has animal ears on the top of his head. And holy shit,  _ a tail.  _

“I’ll fucking tear you to pieces, how dare you! You know what it means to me!” The guy with the tail is screaming, voice hoarse, trying to push away the man holding him back, who looks like he’s turning blue in the face. The guy’s tail is curved around his waist and when Yunho looks closer he realises it’s not one thick, fluffy tail, the guy has  _ two _ of them. 

“Yeosang, I didn’t mean it! It was an accident, stop yell- AHH!”

The first guy, Yeosang, has begun growling at the other, snapping his jaw, sharp teeth bared. The man holding on to him looks up at them, locking eyes with Seonghwa, and huffs. 

“Can you maybe help?”

Seonghwa stands still for a moment, looking at Yeosang with wide eyes as he growls, tails swishing menacingly in the air. Yunho can see the tip of one tail is a tiny bit shorter than the other, the hair stained a dusty black. Then when Yeosang raises a palm in the air aimed straight at the man opposite him, whose face is oddly animated despite the lack of one eyebrow, Seonghwa springs into action and walks briskly towards Yeosang, a short, firm “Yeosangie,” on his lips. 

Yeosang freezes and narrows his eyes at Seonghwa, pulling back to stand up straight, no longer struggling against the man holding him. He looks murderous and Yunho fears for Seonghwa’s life when suddenly, Yeosang’s entire demeanour changes. He sags, the pointy ears on his head drooping and  _ pouts _ at Seonghwa. He wiggles out of the grasp of the man behind him and barrels into Seonghwa, wrapping his arms around him, sniffling and murmuring something. 

The man with one eyebrow baulks. “Are you fucking kidding me?? You always do this, oh my  _ god _ ,” he exclaims, incredulous. Yeosang turns to him and snarls. 

“You’re this close to becoming my lunch Mingi, don’t push me,” he mutters, stone cold. Then he looks up at Seonghwa and widens his eyes, lifting up the singed tail in his hand and shoving it in Seonghwa’s face who looks absolutely done. “Look! Look at what he did to me! You know how long it took me to get this one Seonghwa, it’s so precious to me.” 

Mingi squawks while Yeosang continues to caress his tail and Seonghwa sighs. He pulls away from Yeosang and looks wildly at the mess in the room. He begins to start gathering it all robotically, while the others in the room turn the chairs the right way up and take a seat, looking like cowed children. 

“I think I’ve made it clear that whatever happens, we make sure that we aren’t loud or violent enough to warrant a visit from the mortals downstairs, yes?” Seonghwa says, voice flat, a pile of trash in his arms. Yunho jolts and bends down to help Seonghwa, gathering broken pieces of what looks like a vase. “Mingi please apologise to Yeosang- ah, thank you Yunho- and Yeosang, you’re decades older than Mingi. Act your damn age.” Seonghwa gathers everything into a pile and looks pointedly at Mingi and Yeosang who sit mirroring each other, arms crossed and mouth pushed out into a moue. Immediately they jump up and collect the pile, carrying it out of the room, making a show of not walking too close to each other. 

Seonghwa settles down in a chair and Yunho hovers a little awkwardly next to him while the others seem to disperse, lounging around the room, switching on the TV. The little black cat runs out of the room and Yunho watches it go absentmindedly. 

“Yunho, sit anywhere, so sorry about that,” Seonghwa gestures to a chair flippantly. “Hongjoong, did-”

“No, don’t worry, I glamoured the room a long time ago so they couldn’t see shit. I don’t think they’ve realised yet that sigils on the cameras mean absolutely nothing to me,” the man who was holding Yeosang, Hongjoong, says wryly, mouth pulled into a lopsided smile. He looks nondescript, dressed in sweatpants, hair falling into his eyes. But Yunho’s eyes catch on the massive pendant swaying on his chest and he freezes. There’s something about it that makes Yunho’s skin crawl, the restlessness swelling in waves. Hongjoong looks up at Yunho and tilts his head, following Yunho’s gaze. 

“Ah, is this the berserker? Can you sense the magickal energy in my amulet?” Hongjoong asks. Yunho nods mutely, trying his best to quell the thrumming under his skin. Hongjoong must notice the way Yunho’s fists are clenched tight and he winces. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I practise necromancy so the energy is probably resentful as fuck. I’ll put it away for now, yeah?” 

Hongjoong backs away from him slowly and steps out of the room. Yunho takes a deep breath and urges himself to calm down. When he opens his eyes again, he can feel Wooyoung and the bug-eyed man staring at him curiously and the back of his neck warms up in embarrassment. He sits down slowly and thinks about how both Hongjoong and Wooyoung had called him a berserker. What is that? 

“It’s what you are.”

Yunho doesn’t realise he’s said it out loud until he hears the new voice answer him. There’s a man in a robe striding into the room, holding a drink in his hand. He curls up on one of the long couches and sips at his drink, looking at Yunho from under his eyelashes. The robe falls down his shoulder, exposing tanned skin and a firm bicep. Yunho averts his eyes when he sees the flash of a brown nipple. 

“You’re a berserker. The first berserkers were from Viking clans, warriors who went into unnatural frenzies during battle, tearing apart everything in their sight. They were blessed by the gods, the perfect warriors. Ruthless,” the man says in a dulcet tone, as if he’s talking about his day rather than calling Yunho an unforgiving killer. 

“I’ve met a few berserkers before, but you’re one of the lucky ones. You’ve been off the radar your whole life, unnoticed by us even. The others weren’t so lucky. Many of them had been forced into insidious government military programs, unwilling soldiers forced to wreak havoc on innocent people. I don’t think we managed to save any of them.” 

Yunho sweats in the empty silence that follows. The man had spoken to Yunho almost  _ accusingly  _ as if Yunho was personally responsible for the fates of other berserkers. He wants to say something, to protest but Seonghwa beats him to it. 

“San, it’s Eden’s job to debrief him. This isn’t helping him at all.” 

San sighs dramatically and lies down on the couch, a little sliver of the inside of his thigh on display. He lifts his head up and Yunho wrenches his eyes away from the exposed skin and finds San looking at him with an unreadable expression. Then San smiles wide, eyes crinkling, little dimples on the sides of his cheeks.

“Welcome to the rest of your life, Yunho. I look forward to being a part of it.”

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Yunho spends the rest of the day being bombarded by information from the rest of the team. Everyone, except Seonghwa, had seemed a little wary of him at first but slowly they seemed to warm up to him and now, nearing dusk, Yunho sits on a couch with Wooyoung almost perched on his lap, blabbering excitedly about  _ everything _ while the others interrupt him occasionally. The only one who keeps his distance is San, who naps on the couch opposite them, silently watching Yunho when he wakes. Yunho is painfully embarrassed by how  _ aware _ he is of San, of his little movements, the way he whines when he stretches and the way he looks at Yunho. 

“I’m a siren, if you haven’t guessed already! My mom fell in love with an asshole, gave birth to me and then ate him when he tried to leave,” Wooyoung says with a massive smile on his face. Yunho blinks. “Oh, and Seonghwa’s kinda sorta my great-uncle? I don’t know, it’s very very complicated but can you guess what he is?”

“He’s a hag, that’s what he is,” the bug-eyed man, Jongho, half-troll, as he had introduced himself, says, squeaking when Seonghwa lifts his head up and glares at him. Yunho notices that Jongho’s skin turns a strange grey pallor, every time he experiences any extreme emotion, which is very often. Seonghwa is reclined on the couch with Yeosang splayed across his chest, tails curled possessively around Seonghwa’s thigh. 

Yunho didn't need to think very hard to guess what kind of creature Yeosang is. He used to read a lot as a kid, finding neighbourhood libraries, asking social workers and foster parents to please give him books, that’s all he asks. He remembers a beautiful comic he’d read once by Neil Gaiman, astonished by the ruthless, beautiful fox spirit. Looking at Yeosang’s gold eyes and rough nature, he feels a little awe-struck. 

“Seonghwa, show Yunho!” Mingi yells from where his head his pillowed on Hongjoong’s lap, who jerks awake and wipes at the drool on his face surreptitiously. Mingi’s still missing one entire eyebrow but he doesn’t seem to mind much. Seonghwa sighs and pushes Yeosang off him gently and rises, walking stiffly to the large aquarium in the corner. He begins taking his clothes off and Yunho blushes and looks away but no one else seems to think anything of it. He turns his head and finds San watching him, a tiny little smile on his face. Yunho’s face burns. 

He hears a loud splash and Seonghwa calling Mingi over and looks up to see Seonghwa fully submerged in the water. Mingi jogs towards the tank, climbing a small ladder and dipping one hand into the water. Yunho watches as his hand glows, turning a deep gold-red and steam begins to waft up from the water. Yunho doesn’t really have to think very hard about Mingi either; the pyromancer is obvious and almost child-like with his abilities. 

Yunho turns to watch Seonghwa and gasps. Seonghwa’s skin is mottled with thick green scales, from his abdomen down to his legs. The scales seem to grow, thickening around his legs, until Yunho blinks and Seonghwa doesn’t have legs anymore, just a long, winding tail that tapers out like a snake’s tail. Seonghwa’s face has fins on either side, eyes larger, scarier and fangs hanging out of his mouth. He looks like something out of a horror movie. He opens his mouth in a wide, mocking smile and a two-forked tongue flickers out. Yunho feels paralysed. 

He hears someone mewl next to him and turns to see Yeosang sitting on his haunches, watching Seonghwa with a lewd smile. “Ugh, he’s so hot. I love you, sweetheart!” Yeosang purrs and Hongjoong retches, throwing a pillow into Yeosang’s face. 

“Disgusting, I’m trying to sleep, you fuckers. Seonghwa get out before Yeosang literally comes in front of all of us, for god’s sake,” Hongjoong pleads, grabbing a blanket and going up to where Seonghwa transforms back slowly and hauls himself up and out. Yunho’s pretty sure Yeosang moans a little at the way Seonghwa’s arms flex but San is laughing loudly, hair fanning out on the couch and Yunho is a tiny bit distracted. Hongjoong bundles Seonghwa into the blanket like a burrito and pushes him back towards the couches. 

“Yunho, if you haven’t gotten it already, Seonghwa is descended from something called a Lamia. He’s a freaky magickal snake and yes, a hag, he’s old as fuck, he was born in like the 14th century or something,” Hongjoong says, lifting Mingi and placing him on his lap, holding him close while Mingi giggles. Seonghwa hisses, but he doesn’t look half as menacing as he did before, bundled up in a blanket with Yeosang cooing at him and fluffing his hair up. 

“My mother was a direct descendant of the Great Mother,” Seonghwa states huffily. “When I was a hatchling, I was blessed by the Goddess herself.”

“Yeah okay, but mom said you were a massive crybaby, and the smallest in your entire nest. Grandma used to bully you constantly. ”

“You- I, that is  _ not  _ true, Wooyoung your mother doesn’t remember  _ shit.” _

“Sure,” Wooyoung teases, shit-eating grin on his face. Wooyoung must see the lost expression on Yunho’s face and he coos, “Ahh, don’t stress sweetheart, our family is very complicated.”

There’s an expectant silence, everyone looking towards Yunho as if they’re waiting for him to say something. 

“Umm, is this all you guys do? Like just hang around here? I thought this was like an intelligence agency,” Yunho mumbles and then immediately regrets it. Great job, insult the very people you’re going to live with, Yunho. But to his surprise, everyone just laughs, choruses of “ _ yeah”  _ and “ _ pretty much” _ in the air. 

“When we’re off duty, life is a little uneventful here Yunho, fair warning. We aren’t allowed to go out much,” Hongjoong says softly, running his hands through Mingi’s hair. 

“Or at all, really. We can’t show ourselves to mortals and are considered a danger to society. Say it like it is, Hongjoong,” San pipes up, voice flat and bitter. 

Yunho watches as everyone seems to deflate, even Wooyoung who hadn’t stopped grinning since Yunho met him. He hasn’t seen a single human being in the house, but Seonghwa had mentioned something about agents downstairs. It feels an awful lot like they were being kept captive here. He feels incensed but then he thinks of the beast in him, the memories clouded by anger and hurt, and thinks maybe keeping him away from humans might be the best thing. 

He thinks of Seonghwa’s kindness, Wooyoung’s smile, and San’s soft skin and thinks that maybe he should be kept away from them as well. 

He’s distracted by the scent of something delicious in the air, spices wafting from somewhere. He raises his head in the air and sniffs loudly. He looks back at everyone excitedly and blushes a little when he finds them staring at him curiously. 

“I smell food,” he says lamely. Seonghwa makes a tiny noise and gets up quickly.

“Ah, dinner must be ready. Let’s not be late.” 

He follows everyone out, passing by San who comes close to him and taps his chin with a finger, murmuring a low,  _ cute, _ before walking off. Yunho almost doesn’t hear the incessant ringing of a bell, presumably signalling dinner. 

He’s led into an, unsurprisingly, grand dining room, a long ornate table sitting in the centre, already set, food placed neatly onto the tablecloth. Yunho suddenly remembers the pressing question he had wanted to ask Seonghwa. 

“Whose house is this? And how come it’s so, well, fancy? And don’t you guys have like an HQ or something?”

Hongjoong guffaws. “It belongs to Eden’s family. They moved here a very long time ago and when Eden founded the agency, he established headquarters here. It’s fancy because Eden is rich as fuck,” he says with a snort. “And yes, we do. You’ll see it tomorrow when Eden’s back, I guess. Yunho your seat is on the right side, second from the corner. Feel free to dig in.”

Yunho gets himself seated, folding a napkin across his lap when he sees Seonghwa do it. Then he looks down at his plate and freezes. 

“This is- it’s, how??” Jongho gives him a goofy grin, front teeth a little larger than the rest, like a cute beaver. 

“We aren’t entirely sure but the house came with its own, um, residents. The kitchen knows all your favourite food and prepares it for you. It only asks that you don’t waste anything and make sure to thank it after you eat. Seriously, don’t waste  _ anything _ ,” Jongho says cryptically, eyes wide. 

Yunho just laughs, nodding, delighted because on his plate is his favourite meal ever. When he was twelve, he was temporarily placed with a middle-aged Japanese woman who had a massive house but lived there all alone. Yunho remembers her so well because, for a few months, he was the happiest he had ever been. She was kind and funny and took him all over the city, to museums, cinemas, everything, always saying “Yunho, it’s so important for you to enjoy life. I just want you to be happy.” But Yunho will never forget the curry she used to make for him; a slightly odd albeit delicious mix of vegetables and chicken and rice. It was so simple but it was the best thing he’d ever eaten. She never ended up adopting him, something came up with her family and she had to move. Yunho’s tried his best to forget the image of her crying face in front of his. 

He digs in, throat a little tight, and lets the spice warm him up from the inside out. He doesn’t leave even a grain of rice on his plate and he says a quiet thank you out loud, unsure of who exactly to thank. He feels a strange sensation on his shoulders, as if someone has placed their hands there. But there’s no one behind him and the sensation fades just as quick. The beast remains silent, and Yunho assumes that whatever it was, it has good intentions. He watches everyone else finish their meal, slowly getting up one by one or in pairs and traipsing out of the dining room. 

“San, could you please show Yunho to his room? Yunho, Eden will be here tomorrow and we can start your initiation,” Seonghwa says, winking at Yunho. He’s got an arm around Yeosang’s waist, all but dragging him out of the room. 

Initiation?  _ Oh _ . Of course, Yunho had forgotten this was an actual, honest to God governmental organisation with trained  _ agents.  _ He would need to be trained too. Yunho wonders if that means combat training, what exactly that would mean for him specifically. 

“You coming?”

San’s already leaning against the doorway, still in the slinky, black robe. He raises an eyebrow at Yunho and Yunho jumps up with a start, shuffling after him. They walk in silence, down the stairs and to a corridor with a number of closed doors that he assumes must be private rooms. It seems an awful lot like the boarding schools he used to read about as a kid, complete with the eccentric schoolmates. 

His room though, when San opens the door, is very different from the tiny dorm rooms he’s read about. It’s big, bigger than any room Yunho has ever lived in, with a king sized bed, a beautiful desk and wardrobe and even a T.V. Yunho realises that it looks a little familiar because a lot of his stuff is already here, the small succulents he’d picked up at a weekend market, the pile of books and comics he’s collected over the years on the desk. 

“Feel free to decorate it however you want when you start getting paychecks from the agency. It’s yours now,” San says, hovering right outside. “You can ask Eden to get you more drawers and a bookshelf and stuff.” He looks a little awkward standing there and for the first time, Yunho realises how  _ small _ he is. He lifts a hand up to rub at his nose with the back of his palm and Yunho’s reminded of the little cat that had disappeared. They had called the cat San as wel-  _ oh.  _

“I didn’t get to make a guess about you,” Yunho murmurs softly, something urging him not to speak too loud, scared of scaring San away. San blinks at him, confused. Then his eyes widen and he lets out a tiny little  _ ah  _ and smiles at Yunho in a mischievous way that was becoming all too familiar. 

“Well? What do you think?”

“A shapeshifter? I remember the cat- that was you, right?” San hums noncommittally.

“Yes and no. As in, yes the cat was me, I am the cat. But I’m not just a shapeshifter,” San says, tapping his nose with a finger. “Tell you what, you don’t have to guess right now. But when you do,  _ if _ you do, I’ll give you something, whatever you want.” 

San’s voice is low and Yunho’s skin feels warm. 

“Anything I want?”

“Anything you want.” 

A loud screech echoes into the air and both of them jump. San closes his eyes and sighs. 

“ _ Mingi. _ This is the very reason I sealed my room off, if you need me to do the same for you, just say the word,” San says tiredly. He clears his throat and smiles at Yunho again. “Have a good night Yunho. I’m, uh, I’m glad we found you.” 

Yunho collapses onto the bed when San leaves and tries to stop his heart from leaping out of his chest. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I- me looking at how I said there would only be two chapters like 6 months ago... A CLOWN, THIS IS CLOWNERY AT ITS FINEST
> 
> Anyways, hi, i hope ppl will still read this bc now it has a doomsday plot and is so much longer than i planned!!!!!! 
> 
> Fully pulled plot and worldbuilding out of my ass but its working so far so lets go with it lmao
> 
> i hope you guys like this one:((

The sound of sharp rapping on his door jerks him awake. 

It’s probably his uptight neighbour, knocking on his door at ass o’clock in the morning to complain about something or the other. Yunho rolls over onto his stomach, keeping his eyes closed, and tries to go back to sleep. He’s not in the mood to deal with anyone right now, far too sleepy and content. For a moment, Yunho basks in the warm heat of sunlight on his skin, the heavy scent of new furniture, clean sheets and something else, something familiar that reminds him of the scent he picked up on San-

He sits up with a jolt and realises he’s not at home, in his dingy apartment. He drinks in the room he’s in: the newly purchased furniture, the pungent smell of new paint on the walls. It’s so much bigger than his tiny bedroom back home. A small surge of panic rises in his stomach, and when a familiar rumbling fills his head again he realises that for the first time, he’d woken up without the presence of the beast in his head. He’d woken up to silence. 

Someone knocks on the door again and Yunho jumps.  He gets up and swings the door open, everything rushing back when he sees Eden standing there in a mauve coat, smiling at him genially. The train, the house, the bureau, everyone he’d met. It was all real. Yunho’s head is beginning to pound. 

“Ah, Yunho, I’m very sorry to wake you, I just wanted to ask if you’d like me to show you the main compound today?”

It takes him a second to focus on what Eden’s saying. He nods automatically, blinking in a way that must concern Eden who frowns. 

“Are you alright?”

Yunho clears his throat and nods again. “Um, yeah, I’m just- still can’t believe everything that happened yesterday was real.  _ Is _ real.”

Eden hums in consideration. “It must be so difficult for you to adjust...it always is in the beginning. I’m sorry it was all so sudden; if we had found you any earlier maybe we would have been able to streamline your induction here. Maybe we could have-” 

He cuts himself off with an imperceptible shake of his head. Then he smiles at Yunho again. 

“I’ll do everything in my power to make you comfortable, Yunho. Anyway, I’ll let you get dressed. We’ll meet with the others in the dining hall, you’ll hear the bell. I assume the others have spoken to you at least briefly?” Eden asks and then narrows his eyes. “I hope they were welcoming, I know they can be, well, a little overwhelming.” 

Yunho thinks about San’s calculating gaze, Seonghwa’s forked tongue and Yeosang’s heavy, gold eyes and gulps. 

“Uh. Yeah. Absolutely.” 

Eden seems to be content with his answer and squares his shoulders, inclining his head. 

“That’s good! Alright then, I’ll see you soon Yunho. Don’t be late, and I don’t know if the team told you about the kitchen staff-”

“Oh yeah, there’s like a ghost? Not sure, but I can’t be late and I need to eat whatever’s given to me or I’ll be killed or something.”

Eden snorts, eyes crinkling in amusement.

“That sounds needlessly draconic. Don’t worry, nothing that drastic will happen to you,” he assures Yunho, chuckling. “The food is prepared by a boggart tied to this house, and bound to me and my family.”

At Yunho’s confused frown, he explains, “A boggart is a mischievous spirit, drawn to large houses and living spaces. We made a deal with this one; in exchange for a place to stay, it acts as a helping hand, cooks, and guards the house against anything threatening. And feeds on the occasional sprite roaming around the house. It only asks that we treat it with respect, so yes, try not to upset it too much. Or you’ll find something very unappetising on your plate for the next few days.” 

Yunho mutters a small  _ ahh  _ and waves absently at Eden when he bids him a short goodbye and walks away. He stands out in the open for a few moments, staring at the other doors in the hallway. There are strange symbols drawn over some, and on one, a piece of paper with  _ ‘Jongho stop coming in and stealing my shit!’  _ and in smaller writing,  _ ‘I’m sorry, trolls like shiny things! Maybe if you didn’t own so many earrings, I wouldn’t be tempted:)’  _ written with a bright red crayon. Something about it really reminds him of the homes he lived in briefly, sharing rooms and bathrooms with other kids. He finds himself smiling. Despite everything, at least there’s something familiar about this place, like a bizarre, occultic group home. 

One of the doors starts rattling and Yunho goes back into his room quickly, shutting the door behind him. He feels oddly shy, intimidated by the others. Yesterday he’d been riding on pure adrenaline, counting on their fascination with him, the newbie, to make conversation. Now, it’s dawning on him that no matter what he thinks, these aren’t human beings. They aren’t like his frat boy coworkers or the few friends he has, working long days like him and drinking on the weekends. There’s nothing  _ mundane  _ about them. He thinks of how they are the creatures he used to read about, the paintings and statues he’s seen in museums, ancient and  _ powerful.  _ He doesn’t know how he even compares. 

He shakes his head frantically and pats at his warm cheeks. He checks the cupboards and finds them stocked full of his own clothes and some new ones, unfamiliar to him.  Expensive looking silk shirts dangle from the hangers and shiny shoes line the bottom of the cupboard . He wonders exactly how much money this bureau has to be able to provide them with facilities like this, massive rooms, clothes,  _ everything _ . He showers, a little daunted by the technologically savvy bathroom, and gets dressed quickly, pulling on a familiar shirt and pants.  Just as he's about to comb his unruly waves, a shrill ringing echoes in the air to signal mealtime. Yunho sighs and runs his fingers through his hair quickly, briefly examining himself in the mirror before rushing to the bedside to grab his phone. When his palm closes around empty air, he realizes that his phone must have been lost during the incident . He makes a note to ask Eden about that. 

He rushes out of the door, wiping his hands on his thighs a little awkwardly, trying to figure out which way to go when a familiar, sweet scent fills the hallway. 

San’s walking towards him, no longer wearing a translucent robe,  _ thank god,  _ but he’s not sure what he’s wearing right now is any better either. It’s a grey turtleneck, rolled up at his forearms, and a stretchy pair of black jeans. Yunho eyes the outline of San’s bulging muscles, his strong thighs and the silver, dangly earrings framing his face and gulps. Dear God, he really  _ really  _ should not be thirsting this hard after someone he literally just met. 

“Good morning. You okay? You look like a lost puppy,” San says with an amused snort. The beast seems just as distressed as Yunho, an odd, high-pitched rumbling echoing in his head. 

“Uhhh, I’m fine, I’m just trying to find the dining hall? Oh, uh, god morning to you too. I mean, good morning,  _ oh my god _ .” Yunho’s going to combust, his face feels like it’s blazing. 

The small smile on San’s face grows until he’s beaming, eyes scrunched up, dimples on the sides of his cheeks. He walks up to Yunho and pats him on the back, gesturing at him to follow. 

“It’s okay, puppy. Come, walk with me,” he says breezily, unaware of the way Yunho blushes at the nickname. 

San guides him up the stairs, and Yunho takes the opportunity to look around curiously at the winding bannister, the paintings on the wall, a strange ensemble of styles of cultures across the world. Like the ones he’d seen yesterday. Seems like the entire house is a live-in gallery. San catches him looking and gestures to them lazily. 

“The Kims, Eden’s family, have a hobby of collecting art from all over the world. There’s actually a small, enclosed gallery on the ground floor, it has even more stuff. I can take you there sometime if you’d like. Do you enjoy painting? Or do you just admire art and history?” He asks curiously, tilting his head back at Yunho. 

“Ah, I can’t draw or anything but I really like history. It’s what I wanted to get a degree in but I didn’t get the opportunity to do so.” He notices the furrow between San’s brows and explains, “I started working from the age of eighteen, right after I left the group home. I wanted to save up money for it, but things got busy.” 

San hums, still looking at Yunho in that unnerving way.

“D-did you go to college? Or well, I’m not sure if that’s a thing with your, um, kind.”

San chuckles, warm and bright. “I think I must have. I did a lot of things voraciously. It was a long time ago, so I don’t really remember anymore. Besides, I’m really not a fan of the mortal education system now,” he says with a small frown.

“I do hope you achieve your goal though, Yunho.” He turns and looks at Yunho with softness in his gaze. Yunho blinks, staring at San carefully. There’s nothing about him that suggests that he’s an ancient, magical creature, not like the others who’d had distinct physical features. Exactly how old is San? And what is he? He remembers the deal he’d made with San last night and feels heat pool up in his stomach. 

Before he can open his mouth to ask, they reach the hall, and once again, Yunho takes a second to gasp. He’s not sure if he’ll ever get over the grandness of this place. There’s a lot more visible in daylight, sun rays streaming in from floor to ceiling windows, falling onto the massive, rectangular table stretching from one corner of the room to the other. There’s space for at least twenty people to be seated. The ceiling is high, and holds the weight of a delicate-looking chandelier, sparkling like crystal in the sunlight. The long table is set already, plates hidden under steel dish covers and a few people already seated. Wooyoung and Jongho look up at them at the same time, waving enthusiastically and Yunho’s grin comes unbidden. Eden’s sitting at the head of the table, raising a hand in greeting.

“Yunho, hello! Did you sleep well? Eden said he’s taking you underground today, and I’m trying to convince him to let you spar with me.” Wooyoung sounds ridiculously bright and awake, grinning at Yunho with all his sharp teeth on display. There are more feathers covering his skin today, sticking out messily as if he’d rolled in a pile of pink feathers. The side of his face is thick and scaly. Jongho reaches out casually and plucks out a small feather from behind Wooyoung’s ear, who barely reacts to it. Jongho looks back at Yunho and shrugs. 

“Wooyoung’s kind of a late bloomer. His body’s going to be changing a lot this week, so if you see a trail of feathers everywhere, that’s what it is,” he explains, ruffling Wooyoung’s hair fondly. 

Wooyoung pouts, scratching his nose. “Yeah, sorry. I’m going to look like an ugly, scaly monster for a while until I learn to control the transformation. Sorry about that.”

“You’re not ugly, you’re never going to be ugly. At least not to me,” Jongho mutters, face turning an alarming shade of grey, skin hardening like stone. Wooyoung stares at him for a moment then laughs in delight, tapping at Jongho’s cheeks and giggling when it makes a hollow, thumping sound. 

“You’re adorable, Jongie!” San catches Yunho’s eyes and pretends to gag behind his fist. 

“Wooyoung, I can’t let you spar with Yunho, be rational. He’s had no combat training, and he’s not going to start today.” Eden’s voice cuts across the room and Wooyoung sighs, subdued. Yunho cocks his head, a little confused. 

“Wait, I’m not going to train today?” He’d assumed they’d get started immediately. In fact, he’d been a little afraid they would, uncertain about exploring just how violent the beast in him could get. Now, he’s not sure whether he feels relieved or disappointed. 

“No, I don’t think it would be a great idea to do that without learning a little more about your capabilities first. If you wouldn’t mind, I think I’d like to get you started on some cerebral exercises. It’ll allow you to understand and control your berserker form. We also have little to no information about berserkers and their abilities, so it would help us to learn more about you before we throw you into rigorous training.” 

And okay, yeah that makes a lot more sense, Yunho thinks. He wants to ask what the exercises would entail but he figures he’ll just wait and see.

“Eden, do you think he has the ability to remain cognisant in his berserker form?  I'd always assumed that's what made berserkers so effective in battle. It would make sense: the fact that they're completely unaware of themselves and solely focused on laying waste to their enemies .” San’s voice pops up, tone curious. 

“I’m not sure, but I think he should be able to. Other transformative creatures are able to retain cognisance and their shifts are tied to strong outbursts of emotions, just like Yunho’s. I think it should be possible. And Yunho appears to undergo similar changes.” 

Yunho baulks. “Wait, what? What kind of changes?” 

“From the ah- from the footage we saw, your body seems to become enhanced, and more animal-like. You develop claws, appear to be able to withstand a lot of damage, heal very fast, and have superior reflexes. I assume your senses must be enhanced as well. You already have a strong sense of smell and hearing, don’t you?” 

He nods wordlessly, trying to register everything. He’d kinda known about the claws, remembering all those times he’d woken up to claw marks on all his things, like an animal tearing into something. It still shocks him though, something about hearing it from someone else, knowing that it’s real and it’s  _ him.  _

Eden places his elbows on the table, pensive, not really looking at anyone. Yunho wants to ask him more, but they’re interrupted by someone lumbering in loudly. Mingi walks in, a wide smile on his face. There’s still an eyebrow missing from his face and Yunho tries not to snort at the absurd picture he makes. Hongjoong follows after him, taking larger steps to keep up with Mingi’s legs. He’s almost running and Yunho’s amused for a moment until he realises there’s something  _ following _ Hongjoong _ ,  _ who’s trying to get away from it _ .  _ It’s a small, dark, creature, a swirling shadowy shape rolling across the floor and between Hongjoong’s feet. Yunho squints a little and sucks a breath in when he realises the creature kind of resembles a dog. It makes a high-pitched  _ yip!  _ and everyone at the table jumps. 

“ _ What  _ is that?” Wooyoung’s looking at the little shadow dog in awe. “Is that a puppy??” 

Hongjoong pauses in the middle of pulling out a chair and sighs exasperatedly. The little dog jumps up on the chair Hongjoong’s pulled, wagging a black tail in the air and staring at Hongjoong. Mingi guffaws, taking a seat next to the dog and attempting to pet it, his hand passing right through the inky black shadows. 

“Hongjoong forgot to recharge his warding talisman last night and this spirit found him and hasn’t left him alone. It’s so adorable though, look at you!” Mingi coos at the ghost dog, who barks happily. 

Hongjoong sits down next to the dog and glares at Mingi. “I can’t get rid of it because Mingi’ll throw a fit if I do.” Mingi looks at Hongjoong with wide, glassy eyes, the picture of innocence, and yeah, Yunho can see why anyone would have a hard time saying no to that face. 

“Joongie, it’s so cute, you  _ cannot  _ get rid of it.” 

“Eden, can you please knock some sense into him?” 

Eden stares between Hongjoong and the dog, an odd, slack-jawed expression on his face. He gets up from his seat just a little, leaning over the table to take a closer look at the dog. 

“Is that my childhood dog?  _ Pepper? _ ” He calls, slowly. The dog perks up at the name and barks. Hongjoong squeaks, staring at Eden in horror. 

“Uhh, oh holy hell, I am  _ so  _ sorry, Eden.” 

Eden waves a hand at Hongjoong absently, and sits down, rubbing at his temples with a sigh. Yunho watches the way Jongho and Wooyoung are snickering behind their hands at the distressed look Hongjoong gives the dog, and hides his own smile behind his palm. 

Suddenly, there’s rustling at the door and Yeosang walks in frantically. He looks distressed, face lined with exhaustion, bushy tails and ears drooping despondently. He catches sight of Eden and his face falls. 

“Seonghwa had another dream. He’s- I don’t know what this is, Eden, but it took him two hours to come out of it. He’s resting now, he’s fine. He’s going to want to talk to you about it.” Yeosang’s voice sounds hoarse. He comes in and sits down at the table gingerly. 

San straightens, eyes fixed on Yeosang. 

“The same as last time?” He speaks urgently. Yeosang takes a moment before he nods, expression grave. 

“Yes, but I’m not sure what else he saw. He mentioned something about water before he passed out.” 

San freezes, eerily still, and Yunho’s reminded of the way cats sit sometimes, as if bracing themselves for something. Then he turns towards Eden, eyes wide. 

“Eden-”

“I know, San, I know. We’ll do our best. We’ll figure this out.” 

San says nothing, gaze fixed somewhere in the distance. The air around them is stretched thin, like ice on water, and Yunho tenses, waiting for it to crackle and break. Then Wooyoung lifts the cover off his plate with no preamble and starts digging into his food, everyone immediately sagging, the tension dissipating. 

Yunho lifts the cover off his own and finds a simple, traditional breakfast and a bowl of granola on the side. It seems normal, not really reminding Yunho of any memorable breakfasts. He looks at Eden inquisitively who laughs. 

“I don’t know what exactly the others told you but the boggart doesn’t always make your favoured meals. I made a rule in this house after we had some bad experiences, people eating far too many things not meant for their body and getting sick,” he murmurs, side-eyeing Wooyoung who pretends not to see. 

“It’ll provide you with healthy meals, and the occasional favourite. All of you need to be healthy and in good shape. I think you’ve been off-duty far too long.” 

The last sentence is admonishing, aimed at the entire table and everyone grumbles in assent half-heartedly. Yunho takes the opportunity to see if the others are eating the same thing as him and almost screams a little when he sees Yeosang and Wooyoung eating what essentially looks like a heap of raw, bloody meat, served in a bowl, and something goopy and red in a cup. Yeosang catches him looking and smiles, sharp teeth stained red. Yunho quickly averts his eyes and turns to his own plate, shovelling the food into his mouth. 

They eat in silence, even Wooyoung and Mingi keeping quiet, the only noises coming from the little ghost dog that barks excitedly and jumps out of the chair to explore the hall. There’s a strange stillness to their silence and Yunho knows that whatever Yeosang had meant by Seonghwa’s dream has rattled everyone in the room. A part of him is itching to ask them what it means but he doesn’t want to impose and pick at what is clearly an open wound. 

He swallows his food down quickly and when everyone’s done, they leave immediately, even San, who gives Yunho a tiny, soft smile before rushing out of the door. Eden sighs and stands up, gesturing to Yunho to follow, who scrambles up from his seat, almost tripping over the thick carpet spread out on the floor. 

“We’ll be heading underground, since the facility is set up under the foundations of the house. There are some people I’d like you to meet,” Eden says, walking out into the hallway, footsteps clicking audibly. A rush of excitement surges in him, and Yunho quickens his own steps to catch up to Eden.

“How are we getting there, is there like a secret tunnel or something? Behind one of these paintings-”

Eden stops in front of a simple door and locks eyes with Yunho, a small smile on his face. He swings it open to reveal an elevator and pushes a button on the side panel. A soft  _ ding!  _ echoes accompanied by the rumbling sound of the elevator moving. When it stops, Eden makes a sweeping gesture with his hand, eyes twinkling. 

“Ah.” Yunho swallows down his embarrassment, stepping in after Eden. There are only three buttons inside and Eden presses the lowest one, that says “UG”. The elevator starts moving with a jolt.

“Oh, Yunho, I didn’t get a chance to say this earlier, but if there’s anything you need, just let me know, and I can try and get it for you. Anything at all, furniture, new clothes, et cetera.”

“Actually, there is. I was wondering if-if you guys picked up my phone? I realised I didn’t have it this morning...”

He trails off when Eden winces. 

“I’m sorry Yunho but when we found it, it was already in pieces. I can get you a new phone though, just tell me which make and model-”

“Oh no, that’s okay! I can buy it, I don’t want to-”

Eden fixes him with a look. “Yunho, it’s really no problem, at all. The bureau takes care of all our expenses and I take care of those under my care. Everyone living under my roof is a part of my family, including you now, and I’d like you all to live comfortably.”

Yunho digests his words in silence, nodding his head. There’s a niggling question in the back of his head. 

“I-Can I ask why? As in, why do you let creatures like us- _ me _ live here? I don’t mean to sound rude but it seems like everyone here  _ is  _ comfortable but they’re still stuck here. Like a glorified prison.” He mutters the last sentence carefully, focusing on Eden’s impassive face.

Eden stares at him for a moment, an unnerving look in his eyes. 

“Yunho, I’ve been exposed to the supernatural all my life. My family history is long and bloody, and where most children grew up playing with toys, I grew up playing with the monster under my bed.” He speaks softly and Yunho hangs onto his every word. 

“When I joined the special forces, I realised that there’s a large number of people in this world that know about the supernatural too but use their knowledge for no good. People like you are slaughtered and forced to live in hiding, where human beings can’t find them. In turn, your kind has a deeply rooted hatred of mortals, and are constantly at odds with them. There’s a secret war that’s been going on for thousands of years, bloodshed that the world is blind to. I wanted to create an organisation that allows us to foster peace between our kinds. I still wonder if my goal is being met,” he says in a melancholy tone. He glances at Yunho and smiles. 

“I offer my home to you because the other equivalent is being held in tiny, glass cages and scrutinised. I- I may have played an important part in creating this organisation but there’s far too much out of my control. Too much that even I have to fight for. All of you deserve to be safe. You deserve a home, Yunho, and if I can at least give you some semblance of comfort and safety, I will do all I can.” 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The elevator opens into what looks like a mundane basement, smelling of dampness and mildew, a tiny, old fashioned washing machine and a dusty sofa in the corner. Yunho steps out and gapes, staring at the peeling wallpaper. He turns towards Eden with a frown but before he can say anything, Eden steps towards the wall and flicks open an electricity panel. Instead of switches, however, there’s a single, blank screen. For a moment, Eden just stands there, staring at the screen. Then a strange beam of red light falls over Eden’s face, vanishing as quickly as it had come. Yunho hears it before he sees it, a deep rumbling from under the ground and he gasps when the wall they’re standing in front of begins to  _ separate _ , revealing a much larger space, bright light, and the chattering of many voices. 

“Welcome, Director Kim,” a disembodied robotic voice echoes. Eden steps in, looking at Yunho over his shoulder and beckons him with a hand. The walls slide shut behind them and on this side, Yunho can clearly see large, automated metal doors, realising that the “walls” were a facade, a false structure. He turns back around and can’t stop the way his mouth hangs open in awe. 

The room is  _ massive _ , not really a room at all, but more like a wide corridor. They’re standing right at the edge, and when Yunho leans over the side and looks down, he can see winding stairs leading even further underground. There are people milling about on the various tiers of staircases, some in white coats and some in military uniforms, weapons attached to them. It looks like the kind of scientific facilities he’s seen in movies, large and imposing and bustling. 

“Welcome to the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, Yunho,” Eden announces with a flourish. “Come, there is much to do.” 

Eden guides him down the path and takes a turn, the corridor widening, glass walls and metal doors on either side. As they walk, they pass all kinds of people who greet Eden with a nod and a short acknowledgement of “Director”. Yunho tries not to stare at the ones walking around in combat uniform, machine guns strapped to their chests. He can’t stop himself from looking around though, especially at the rooms behind the glass walls. Some of them seem normal, like conference rooms or computer labs, people in suits and white coats sitting in groups. Some of them are...different. Yunho almost stops short in front of one where two scientists appear to be wrestling with something that looks like a big hairy blob. The thing turns around and Yunho stares in horror at what he assumes is the creature’s mouth: a large, open maw, lined with razor-sharp teeth all over, the stuff of nightmares. The creature roars and Yunho jumps, the beast in his head roaring in response and he gears up to enter the room, terrified for the scientists-

“Yunho! Hey, it’s okay, don’t worry, they know what they’re doing. That creature is harmless, it only eats faeries. And horses, for some reason. It really likes horses,” Eden assures him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Yunho’s not sure how that’s supposed to comfort him. He gives Eden a bemused look, who chuckles. 

“Yes, we have some creatures in our midst who obviously cannot live in my house. We keep them here, and provide them with a stable environment.” 

“How many agents do you have?” 

Eden hums, “Agents in total? Around 50, not including the military units that assist us during bigger, more dangerous missions. Gifted agents? 8, including you. And they’re all upstairs. Technically 12, but Dr Kim and her assistants aren’t really employed as agents. She leads the medical and scientific research teams. That’s who I’d like you to meet today, actually.” 

“We had more gifted agents some years ago, field agents that we didn’t house here, free to live their lives but under the employment and surveillance of the Bureau. The number has dwindled down a lot. Many agents have either been killed in action or simply quit,” Eden says, a wrinkle forming between his brows. 

“Quit? How come?” 

“Well-”

“Ah, Yonghwan!” A voice booms loudly behind them and Yunho whirls around, coming face to face with a stout man in a blue suit, approaching them with a wide smile on his face. He comes up and shakes Eden’s hand vigorously, and Yunho notes, with some amusement, that Eden smells like he’s irritated, although his face is completely blank. The man doesn’t even glance at Yunho. 

“I’ve been looking for you. I want to see the new recruit, the animal? Berserker was what you called it, yes?” Something about the man’s tone doesn’t sit right with Yunho. Eden must feel the same because he gives Yunho a sideways glance and smiles at the man, tight-lipped. 

“This is him, actually. Jeong Yunho. Yunho, this is Secretary Yang, head of military and our liaison with the government,” Eden introduces the man who finally turns to look at Yunho. He squints at Yunho, looking him up and down like he’s scrutinising him thoroughly. Then he raises his eyebrows, face morphing into an exaggerated expression and laughs. 

“This is it? The berserker? Well, I didn’t expect it to look like this after what I saw in that surveillance footage,” he drawls. Yunho’s stomach dips, skin crawling restlessly. “Are you keeping it here? I would love to see what it can do, we’ve never found a berserker before, huh?” 

Yunho looks at Eden, fear settling around his heart like a cage, and finds relief when he sees the hard set to Eden’s jaw and the tiny, almost imperceptible sneer on his face. 

“ _ He _ is living with me, actually. And we’re not doing anything until we understand Yunho’s transformations more clearly. There are gaps in his memories, a lot of things he doesn’t remember and I’d like him to be able to have more clarity about his own ability before beginning any kind of combat training,” Eden says shortly. Yunho can see the way Secretary Yang begins to frown, opening his mouth to retort but Eden is already pulling Yunho away with a stern, “Goodbye Secretary, it was nice to see you.” 

Eden marches down the corridor and Yunho jogs after him. Eden gives him an askance look and rolls his eyes. “ _ That’s  _ why so many agents quit. Five years ago, the higher-ups decided that this Bureau needs stricter regulations and they sent that incorrigible man and a slew of military personnel. Needless to say, it changed things here drastically. That man has absolutely no respect for anything that isn’t human and as much as I’ve tried, there’s nothing I can do to get rid of him,” he murmurs in a low voice, displeased. “Just keep your distance as much as possible. He can’t harm you, don’t worry.” 

Finally, they stop short in front of a white door. He pushes it open and inside is what looks like a large laboratory, complete with stone counters where thin, fragile-looking glass tubes sit, and on another side, a wall full of monitors and computer desks and chairs. Two people stand behind the counters, faces covered by bulky goggles, a complicated looking contraption of apparatus containing some strange, purple liquid bubbling away in front of them. One of them carefully tips the liquid into a round flask and adds a clear fluid with a stopper. There’s a sudden popping sound and two others appear, peering into the flask and then furiously typing something into a tablet. 

Eden barely takes a step in when one of them laughs loudly and takes off the goggles, walking up to them with a beaming smile on their face. 

“Ah, Director, I’ve been waiting. Jeong Yunho, it’s so wonderful to meet you! You can call me Jiwoo, I’m the resident doctor.” Yunho tries to hide the surprise on his face. This must be the ‘Dr. Kim’ Eden had spoken about but he’d expected someone much older. Jiwoo looks like she’s younger than him, tiny, an endearing heart-shaped smile fixed on her face. There’s something about her that sets him at ease, the beast barely audible in his head. 

“Um, hi? How do you know my name?” He can’t help but ask. 

She cocks her head. “I read your mind, of course!” Yunho gapes and she starts giggling. “I’m kidding, Eden told me about you. We’ve been expecting you.”

She whirls around, beckoning at them to follow, and walks over to one of the large monitors. One of the others comes over to give her the stopped bottle filled with the purple liquid silently. Jiwoo types something into one of the computers and then hefts the flask, smiling at Eden. 

“Eden, here you go. We extracted some essence from the  _ baku  _ you found, you must give this to Seonghwa in small doses for his nightmares. Such wonderful, gentle creatures- usually, a live baku will quite literally devour bad dreams, but by drinking its essence, Seonghwa will be able to separate the nightmare from the vision. He’ll even be able to dreamwalk with more ease, and won’t be as affected after,” she says cheerily, handing the flask to Eden who looks at it with a frown. 

“How did you- why am I even asking, really,” Eden mutters, shaking his head with a fond smile. Jiwoo laughs airily and taps her nose with her index finger. She reminds him of Wooyoung a little, cheery and smiley but mischievous, young. Yunho wonders just how old she is. There’s no way she’s that young, not when she’s the leading doctor at an organisation like this.

“I’m only a few months younger than you Yunho, and I’m here for a very good reason.” 

Yunho freezes. “Wait, what-”

“I didn’t say that I  _ couldn’t  _ read your mind. Sorry about that though, I usually ask before rifling through someone’s head. Your thoughts are just really loud.” 

Eden laughs while Yunho’s jaw drops open. 

“Jiwoo is a very powerful telepath. She and her associates have been incredibly important to our research. Without her, we would know next to nothing about gifted creatures and their world,” Eden says, admiration evident in his voice. 

“That’s also why the Bureau hasn’t been able to keep me here, under surveillance. They know I could destroy them from the inside out if I wanted to,” she adds happily, still typing away at the computer. 

“Also me and the girls literally just bought a new apartment and I’m not moving out of there for a while. Do you know how difficult it is to find a  _ nice  _ place and a  _ nice  _ landlord?” She mutters, distracted. It looks like she’s typing in a report and Yunho catches his name and the words “preliminary round of testing” on the screen. His heart begins to beat just the slightest bit faster. He’s been reliant on the beast to sniff out any sign of maliciousness or deceit and it’s been silent since he came here. But maybe he should have been more vigilant, he doesn’t want to be an experiment-

“You’re not, don’t worry. Well, in a way you are, but not the way you think. The rounds are just referring to the exercises we want you to do. I promise, I will do nothing without your prior knowledge. Anyways, we won’t do anything today, Eden just brought you here so I could assess you. Eden’ll give you all the legal paperwork you need to sign before I can get my hands on you,” Jiwoo assures him, flashing him another heart-shaped smile. Yunho realises now why the beast is so silent around her. Jiwoo is  _ terrifying.  _

Eden takes a seat on one of the small stools, clearing his throat. 

“Yunho, Jiwoo will essentially be helping you control your transformation. She’s helped our other agents do the same, where they needed it. From what we’ve gathered already, you tend to slip into your berserker form when there’s some sort of strong, emotional stimulus, yes?”

Yunho nods, sitting down while Jiwoo hovers around them, looking between the two of them intently. “Y-yeah, I think it happens when I’m really angry or scared. All the times that I remember have been when I was upset about something,” he says then pauses. He can’t help but ask, “ I hope that- I don’t know if it’s because I want to hurt something? Because that’s what I end up doing everytime I lose control.” 

Jiwoo makes a considering sound and steps closer to him, hands outstretched. 

“Yunho, do I have your permission to read your mind? It’ll be a lot faster, I can surf through your memories quickly. It won’t hurt,” she promises. Yunho’s not sure he wants someone to look through all the carnage in his mind-

Jiwoo giggles, flexing her palms. “Oh don’t worry. I’ve seen a lot more death and destruction than you can imagine Jeong Yunho.” And when Yunho nods wordlessly, gone mute at the look on Jiwoo’s face, the eerie far-away sheen to her eyes. Jiwoo places her palms on his temples and sucks a breath in. Then, everything goes dark. 

_ He opens his eyes and he’s sitting in a chair, staring at a generic, sunflower painting on the cream wall in front of him. He looks around and recognises the room; it’s his caseworker’s office, in the orphanage he was living in as a preteen. He’d come here countless times, speaking with prospective couples, families, sitting in that large, tottering chair, staring at the smiling, hopeful faces of multiple people. When he left the room, he never really saw them again.  _

_ “Yunho? This is Miss Aiko! She’s a teacher and she’d like to talk to you. Could you say hi to her?”  _

_ He remembers this woman: Mrs. Adams, the obnoxiously cheery caseworker he was stuck with till he was thirteen. Even at the age of twelve, Yunho hadn’t liked the patronising way she spoke to him. He turns around to look at the other person in the room. The woman is sitting on the chair opposite him, hands folded elegantly. She looks refined and put together, her clothes pristine. Miss Aiko. Aiko-san. The Japanese lady who had cooked for him, cared for him for a brief amount of time. Treated him like a human being. Yunho suddenly realises he’s reliving a memory he’d long-since buried.  _

_ “I’m a professor actually, I teach at a university. It’s very nice to meet you, Yunho,” Miss Aiko says, stretching a hand out to offer him a handshake. When he doesn’t react, she drops it and smiles, unbothered.  _

_ “Actually, would it be alright if I spoke to him alone?”  _

_ Mrs. Adams glances at Yunho nervously, but then beams, the plastic smile fixed on her face, nodding vigorously. She gets up and walks out of the room, shutting the door loudly behind her. Aiko stares at the door for a moment, and there’s a taut silence between them. Yunho scratches at the itching scab on his knee awkwardly.  _

_ “Yunho, I’d be delighted to have you live in my house. I lost my children many years ago, and I’ve been alone, just like you, since then-” _

_ “Why did you choose me? Haven’t they told you yet?” Aiko raises an eyebrow.  _

_ “Told me what?” _

_ This lady must be dense, he thinks to himself. Who would, in their right mind, look at Yunho's file and deem him the perfect child to adopt. He frowns at her, scratching at the scab insistently, till it begins to sting just a little.  _

_ “I’m- I have problems, that’s what they say. I’ve been sent back from every home because they say I get fits, like, really angry episodes. I don’t remember them but I must have scared a lot of people for them to send me back. I’m not- the doc I’m seeing hasn’t officially diagnosed me yet but they think it’s some kind of personality disorder. So, why exactly have you chosen me?” _

_ Aiko leans back in her chair and says nothing. There’s a strange expression on her face, not fear or nervousness but something that looks a lot like pity. She smiles, warm and bright, closes her eyes for a moment and then opens them again and Yunho gasps. Her eyes, which had been a warm brown, are now a startling red, piercing. Her face seems to morph right before him, her chin elongating and her mouth stretching open to reveal long, fanged teeth. Yunho’s heart thuds in his chest but for some reason, he doesn’t feel an ounce of fear.  _

_ “Because I’m just like you, Yunho.”  _

He comes back into his body with a jolt, squinting his eyes against the bright, blaring light of the laboratory. Pain pierces through his head like he’s been skewered, ears muffled and ringing. When the pain dissipates a bit, he realises the ringing is coming from the beast, as if it’s squealing in pain. He scrunches up his eyes and opens them again to find Jiwoo standing before him with her head in her hands, shoulders trembling. Eden rushes towards them, his worry palpable, but Jiwoo holds a hand up, gesturing at him to stop. Then she raises her head, eyes blood-shot, and gives Yunho a shaky smile. 

“I- I’m so sorry, I told you it was a lot-”

“Oh no, it wasn’t your memories Yunho. It was the nature of your memories. They’re- it’s like they’re locked away, like you’ve repressed them so deep down, I have to pry your head open to glimpse at them. I’m sorry, by the way, that usually isn’t supposed to hurt.” 

Yunho’s head still aches, a familiar pounding headache. His memories have always been a little fuzzy, there are so many gaps. But he hadn’t realised just how deep he’d buried them. Especially this memory, he has no recollection  _ at all _ of Aiko-san looking like  _ that.  _

“What was that? That wasn’t an episode, why don’t I remember any of that? Aiko-san wasn’t- she was a normal woman, I don’t remember her like that, are you sure that was a  _ memory?”  _ He knows he sounds accusatory but he can’t find it in himself to feel guilty about it. He has far too many questions and he can feel the beast growling aggressively in his mind. 

Jiwoo tuts, gestures at him to follow her, and walks with purpose to the row of computers. She types something on the keyboard quickly and a page pops up on one of the monitors. It looks like a document, titled ‘ _ Aiko Kagawa; Codename: Black Widow.’  _ The picture attached is unmistakable. It’s her and she looks exactly the same. As if she hasn’t aged at all. Eden comes up behind them slowly and gasps. Yunho whirls around and finds him standing there with his mouth wide open. 

“That’s- Aiko found you? But she was killed, I saw the body myself. There was no record of you anywhere, she never notified the Bureau,” Eden murmurs. Jiwoo shakes her head, mouth pursed. 

“It was her, I’m sure of it. It’s like his memory of her has been altered, I kept seeing strange symbols-”

“ _ What?  _ Are you saying I was being fostered by a Bureau agent? What the fuck is going on?” 

Jiwoo gives him a long, cautious look. She tilts her head towards one of the chairs. 

“Sit down, I think there’s a lot to discuss.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


“Your mind is like a massive house with many doors that are locked shut and I have to use all my strength to pry them open. At first I thought that maybe you’d repressed a lot of your memories because of the trauma you associate with them. That’s very common with situations like this and as a telepath, I’m able to ‘heal’ your mind, unlock your memories and allow you to understand and eventually disengage with the trauma linked. In severe cases, I can also erase the memories. But most of the time, the trauma hinders magical abilities so it’s important to recognise it in order for you to be able to use and control your abilities,” Jiwoo tells him animatedly. 

“Okay, then what’s different with me?” 

Jiwoo pauses for a moment, eyebrows furrowed. 

“With you I can sense the same but it’s even more exaggerated, in a way. It’s not just your memories of your epi- let’s call them transformations, because that’s what they are. Yunho, I think your memories of  _ anything  _ even remotely magical, anything supernatural have been locked away. That’s why the memory of Aiko surfaced so clearly, it was clearly a powerful, traumatic one and I tried my hardest to unlock it. She was a hybrid, a witch who was turned into a vampire, a field agent, here at the Bureau. You remember her revealing herself to you. And you remember her being hunted, you remember that that’s why she had to leave you, because you would be safest surrounded by human beings.”

“I-what?” He stutters, mind racing. He wants to argue, say that he remembers nothing of the sort but suddenly, cloudy images flit through his head.  _ Coming back home from a day out, laughing and holding hands with Aiko-san, belly filled with all sorts of junk food. The apartment was dark and empty but something felt off, the beast rumbling a warning in his ears. Aiko-san pushing him out, telling him to run and hide, hide, hide and then the sounds of her yelling, a strange whooshing sound in the air, audible even from outside the apartment, where he was crouched on the stairs, refusing to leave. Aiko-san coming out with blood all over her face, smiling at him with tears in her eyes, “Yunho-kun, it’s okay, it’s over, I’m so sorry.”  _

He can feel himself tearing up. “I don’t understand…”

Eden clears his throats, settling down in a chair directly across from them. He gives Yunho the same cautious look Jiwoo had given him. 

“Aiko Kagawa was employed by the Bureau many, many years ago. She was an incredible agent, with numerous qualifications, a professor who taught at a prestigious university before she joined us. She decided to work with us because she had a personal mission; she made it her job to find and rescue supernatural creatures, especially young ones who lived amongst human beings or in squalid conditions. I assume that’s why she found you, Yunho. I-I’m not sure why she didn’t take you to the Bureau immediately but I think she must have had her reasons,” Eden says, voice deep with emotion. 

“What happened to her? The last thing I remember was her saying goodbye. I never saw her again.” He’s almost afraid to ask the question. The look on Eden’s face is harrowing. 

“A few years ago, we lost all contact with her. We tried everything, but her apartment had been stripped of its belongings, she didn’t show up anywhere on our radar- she had just simply vanished. We found her body later. She’d been killed by what we assumed were hunters. There are mortal communities, religious families who have long, proud histories of tracking down and killing supernatural beings, especially vampires and werewolves. They believe these creatures must be purged, that they are ‘abominations’ in the eyes of God. I’m afraid that she was perhaps being targeted by one of these families and to keep you safe, cut all ties, and fled.” 

His mind is racing, heart pounding. It feels like a gargantuan amount of information to digest and he can’t tamp down the feeling of sorrow, guilt and frustration. Something touches his knuckles and he jumps. Jiwoo gives him a bright, reassuring smile and unfurls his fingers. He hadn’t even realised that he’d balled his hands up, nails digging into the skin of his palm. 

“God, it- She didn’t deserve that. She did nothing wrong. Is that common? People like her, just hunted down and killed ruthlessly?” 

“Yes. It’s- like I said, it’s a war, Yunho. And your kind has been losing for centuries,” Eden murmurs dolefully. A thought strikes him out of nowhere and he sags. Before he can even voice it, Jiwoo makes an indignant noise, shaking her head furiously at Yunho. 

“No, Yunho, it’s not your fault and you didn’t know what would have happened. Yes, maybe you would have been able to join us earlier and learn how to use your abilities in a controlled manner. But that is not what happened and you must accept that. It’s unfair and maddening but you’re here now. And I promise, we’re going to help you,” she asserts, eyes fiery. She springs to her feet, pushing her hand out for Yunho to shake. He holds on to it, and can somehow feel the way Jiwoo calms his mind, the sorrow, a dull, muted echo in the back of his head. He takes a breath in and returns her beaming smile. 

“We have a lot of work cut out for us, Yunho. We’re going to have to change what we originally planned for you. From tomorrow, we’re going to spend every session just unlocking your memories and figuring out why exactly were they locked in the first place. Be prepared,” she warns, whirling around the room like a tiny hurricane. 

“Wait. What do you mean by  _ why _ they’re locked?” 

Jiwoo shrugs, twisting her mouth. “There’s something strange about them, like they’ve been changed, not just repressed. I’ve never seen anything like it,” she mutters, almost to herself. “We’ll figure it out, don’t worry. I’ll see you soon, Yunho.” She tugs on the safety goggles again and rejoins her team. Yunho had almost forgotten they were in the room with them at all, they’d been eerily silent throughout. 

Eden stands up, and Yunho follows suit, and they head towards the doors. As he’s stepping out, he stills. He turns around, and finds Jiwoo looking at him like she knows exactly what he’s going to ask her. She probably does but he decides to ask anyway. 

“I- I know you said that you couldn’t erase any of my memories because they might be tied with my abilities. But is there anyway to erase the- I’ve been hearing the beast inside my head since I was a kid, it’s just constantly there. Isn’t there any way to erase that?” 

“Yunho the beast  _ is  _ your ability. There is no way for me to get rid of it.” 

“But- is there anything you can do to just like, make it softer or something?” 

Jiwoo says nothing for a moment. “You know, it’s strange that you say that you can hear it inside your mind. Do you mean to say that it feels like it’s occupying a space in your mind? Like you’re sharing your mind with this entity?” 

Yunho sighs in relief because that’s exactly what it feels like; he’s never been able to explain it to someone who understands before. “Yes! I- it’s just constant frustration, I don’t know how to mute it-”

“Yunho, when I read your mind, it didn’t sound like two separate entities at all. The beast  _ is  _ you, is your thoughts. To get rid of it would be to wipe your mind completely. Turn you into a vegetable,” she says softly and Yunho’s head churns. “The only way to mute it would be to help you process your memories, understand who you are and accept it. I know there’s a whole lot of guilt in that cute head, but I promise you, you are not the monster you think you are.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do leave kudos and comments if you can! 
> 
> my twt is [fightmehyuk](https://twitter.com/fightmehyuk)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES ITS A DOUBLE UPDATE (BC I WROTE FAR TOO MUCH)
> 
> here you go, enjoy:)

_ “Yunho? Are you awake?”  _

_ He wakes up to a quiet whisper from the edge of his bed. Sitting up groggily, he rubs his eyes and squints into the darkness. There’s a light shining, as if suspended in the middle room and Yunho can make out the hazy outline of a small boy, one of the others, perhaps holding a flashlight.  _

_ “Yeah?” he murmurs around a yawn. The boy comes closer and plops down on the edge of the bed, sitting down on his hands and the light goes out. He doesn’t say anything for a moment and Yunho frowns.  _

_ “Do you need something?” Some of the boys are so small, smaller than Yunho even and the nuns always tell him to look out for them, to make sure they don’t get into trouble. The younger ones have taken to following Yunho around like a brood of excited chicks, and it makes Yunho feel proud that they look up to him so much.  _

_ The boy makes a small, high-pitched noise, like a hesitant whine. This close Yunho can see the way the boy’s features are furrowed; he looks distraught. Yunho immediately throws away the blanket and scooches closer to the boy, heart thudding. Maybe he made a mess out of the bedsheets, some of them still have a habit of wetting the bed in their sleep. Yunho had grown out of his habits very early on, when one of the nuns had threatened to beat him out of it. He doesn’t want the small ones to go through the same thing and he sighs wearily. He can’t really smell anything pungent in the air though and there’s a strange feeling coursing through him and a deep, rumbling noise from the back of his head.  _

_ “Do you need help? Did you wet-” _

_ “Y-yunho,” the boy pleads, voice thick with emotion. “Something’s wrong with me. You need to help me.”  _

_ The rumbling noise swells becoming louder and louder, like an animal roaring and Yunho shivers in fright.  _

_ “W-hat? What is it?”  _

_ The boy sniffs and holds his hands up, palms balled up in a fist. He’s holding something in his hand, perhaps the flashlight Yunho had seen but he wonders where the boy had gotten a flashlight from at all. The boy turns his fists over and slowly, lets his fingers unfurl. Yunho watches in awe and in fear as light pours out of the boy’s very palms, a bright, white beam from both his palms, as if it’s coming from within him. It illuminates the boy’s tear-streaked face and the way he looks at Yunho, terrified.  _

_ “I don’t know what to do- it just happened, I-I couldn’t sleep,” the boy stammers, chest heaving with a sob. For some reason, Yunho has the pressing instinct to tell the boy to hide, hide his hands, hide away. He’s not entirely sure where it comes from. He reaches out with a finger and touches the boy’s palm, yanking it back when his skin singes. The boy gasps and begins sobbing loudly.  _

_ Yunho sits up and clutches the boy’s face, trying to wipe off the incessant stream of tears.  _

_ “Shush, it’s okay, it’s fine, we’ll figure it out-” _

_ The door swings open, a loud creaking sound echoing into the dark room. Yunho and the boy flinch violently and stare at the figure standing in the doorway. Somehow, the other boys in the room remain fast asleep, barely even making a noise, even after all the spectacle. The figure at the door moves closer and Yunho can now clearly see that it’s one of the Fathers, the few priest caretakers who handle their classes and mealtimes. Although the man is dressed in a priest’s garb, Yunho doesn’t think he’s ever actually seen this man before. The boy crouches on the bed, cowering, and leans against Yunho. His whole body is trembling and Yunho realises that his own hands are shaking where they hold on to the boy’s shoulders.  _

_ “Children. Isn’t it a rule to not leave your beds after lights out?” The man asks in a dulcet, sweet tone. Yunho barely even sees his mouth move but he hears the voice with so much clarity, as if it’s echoing inside his head.  _

_ “Father, there’s something wrong…” the boy mutters, trailing off as the man comes closer and closer. In the light coming from the boy’s hands, Yunho can make out the man’s impassive face. He looks young, like he’s not much older than the high-school boys that live in the other building. He has a startlingly wide smile fixed on his face and the longer Yunho looks at it, the more it seems as if the man’s teeth fit oddly in his mouth. As if they’re far too long and large.  _

_ “Is there? It’s alright, I can fix it for you,” the man reassures them but there’s something, something off about his voice, and the roaring animal in Yunho’s head yowls in protest as the man approaches their bed, raving and lashing out and the last thing Yunho sees before everything goes dark is the man’s eyes, the pitch-black darkness where his eyeballs should be.  _

“Goddammit!” 

Yunho blinks and he’s in Jiwoo’s laboratory, heaving from the aftermath of the memory. He feels wrung out and his eyes prick like they’re tearing up. These memories are always so  _ painful  _ to relive. He shakes his head and looks up to find Jiwoo typing something furiously into her computer. 

“Everytime we come close, every single time..” she mutters to herself. 

“It’s been three weeks, are you  _ sure  _ there’s something of value here?” He asks wearily. 

Jiwoo gives him a wide-eyed look. “I  _ know _ there’s something of value, Yunho. Whatever time you spent in that orphanage has affected you profoundly. Whatever you encountered there is the key. Your memories of this place are so muddled and sealed, it’s fascinating.” 

Yunho has spent almost everyday in Jiwoo’s laboratory for the past few weeks, going through the laborious, torturous process of getting his memories back. Jiwoo takes it easy on him, focuses on just a few, small memories at a time, and places what she calls ‘inhibitors’ in his mind that reduce the emotional toll of reliving certain experiences. 

“Basically, the inhibitors reduce the intensity of the strong emotions these memories might bring up, so you aren’t triggered into a transformation. The first transformation that you have should be controlled,  _ after _ we’ve cracked your head open,” she’d told him on the first day, a wide, maniacal smile on her face. 

Since then, they’ve gone through and recovered many of his memories. It gives him some solace that every time she unlocks one of his transformations, he’s never caused any harm in every single one of them. Granted, he has apparently destroyed a school bathroom, numerous bedrooms and a playground. He’ll take what he can get. 

Jiwoo fixates on certain memories. She keeps trying to dredge up memories from when he was little, so little that he barely remembers more than fuzzy images, church bells and praying before dinner in the Christian orphanage he’d spent most of his formative years in, before he’d been moved around from group home to group home. Despite all her efforts, Yunho still only remembers flashes and vignettes of images and sounds from his shrouded childhood. The most recurrent is the same memory of the boy and the priest with the hollow eyes, followed by a spike of pain in his head. 

Today she’d been trying to pick at the same memory and they’d gone further than ever before because Yunho hadn’t remembered what the priest looked like in their previous sessions. 

“We’re getting close, Yunho.  _ The Eternal Hope Mission Centre.  _ I’ve had Eden look into the place multiple times but there’s nothing. The orphanage has a squeaky clean history. We even found your records there, Yunho and there’s nothing out of the ordinary,” she says, staring at the monitor in frustration. 

“I-I don’t think I even had an episode or anything there. In fact, it felt like I was-”

“Hearing the beast for the first time, yes I felt that,” she murmurs. Then she turns to him with an excited smile on her face. “But we have something new, the creature disguised as a priest. I’ve never encountered a presence like that before, it was as if I could feel it’s energy even through your memories. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was- if it was an evil entity. But now that we have a clear picture, we can investigate, find his kind.”

Yunho nods in agreement. This memory had felt different, alarmingly vivid. He thinks of the boy he keeps seeing but never remembers his name. He’s asked Eden to look for any record of him multiple times but nothing ever comes up. It’s as if no boy that looked like that was ever housed in the orphanage. 

“He was, Yunho. If you remember him, he was there. We’ll figure out what happened to him. Sometimes, kids like him- gifted, supernatural beings- don’t always survive past childhood. But if he was there, we’ll find something, I promise. I hate- fuck, I hate seeing stuff like this-we call them the forgotten ones. Because no one but our kind will mourn them,” Jiwoo tells him, a sad, faraway look in her eyes. Then she turns around and gives him a bright smile, dropping the subject entirely and chattering on about what she’s learned about him, about berserkers, how they’re making good progress. Yunho doesn’t push. He’d rather not talk about it either. 

His reprieve from the onslaught of his memories, and the sorrowful things he learns about their kind is made bearable by the “study sessions” Eden and the others conduct for him. With Eden, he learns about the history of the Bureau, the classifications of supernatural creatures, basic intelligence training that every novice agent receives. With the others, he receives the unofficial history, “the shit humans don’t know” as San calls it. Seonghwa had taken it upon himself to teach Yunho about supernatural beings, their history and culture. 

“The hidden ones, is what most of us call ourselves. It makes sense; most of our kind lives underground, in sewers or crevices, especially those of us who can’t blend in amongst human kind. In a way, we’re lucky, here at the Bureau. At least, within these walls, we don’t have to hide,” Seonghwa had told him. He’d given Yunho a cheeky smile and said, “I actually like having someone like you around, someone of our kind who’s lived amongst humans all his life. There’s so much for you to learn.” 

Seonghwa had introduced him to the massive, two-tiered library in Eden’s home, bookshelves decorated with gold embellishments and a quaint spiralling staircase that takes them to the higher floor. Yunho had just about passed out from excitement when he’d entered it for the first time, running up and down the staircases, pulling out books,  _ relics _ , from the 18th century and older and touching them reverently. He spends most of his evenings there, lounging on the long, blood-red sofas and listening to one of them talk about their experiences or reading a book about some obscure period of history. 

They tell him more about what each of them are first; Seonghwa going in needlessly meticulous detail about the origins of Lamias, serpentine creatures with magical abilities, the first Lamia, the Great Mother and her bond with the Goddess of magic (“It’s not just magic Yunho, don’t trivialize the Goddess”), Hekate. Wooyoung tells him about Sirens, the different kinds, and how he hails from an avian line of Sirens, the ‘original’ ones, Wooyoung calls them haughtily.

“I actually have a cousin who’s a Melusine, she has two tails, and she’s kind of a mix between a mermaid and siren. We’re all capable of the same thing though: we have powerful voices, made to entice people into doing things,” Wooyoung informs him, waggling his eyebrows salaciously.

Then he frowns, “Sirens get a really bad rep, you know. Everyone thinks we’re these uber sexual creatures and everytime I use my voice on someone, they see some kind of fantasy, something related to sex. But it’s not just about sex like, it’s about showing the person their greatest desire. It’s about controlling them. And most people desire sex. Which is why it was such a lovely change when I first met Jongho. I used my voice on him accidentally and he said I looked like the perfect hug, like he could just hug me and I would comfort him and all his problems would go away. Because that’s what his greatest desire was,” Wooyoung says, voice cracking just the slightest bit. He gives Yunho a sweet grin and moves on, prattling about Jongho and his peculiar ability to sniff out silver from miles away. 

It’s something Yunho notices that even the others do a lot, and he never wants to pry but he wonders just what kind of experiences they’ve had. He wonders if they were as bad as his or even worse. He thinks of Yeosang’s defensiveness, the soft way he’s begun to cuddle up against Yunho recently, like he’s finally comfortable around him; Jongho’s easy, open nature, the way he sticks to Wooyoung like glue and looks at him with stars in his eyes; San and his aloofness, the cracks in his exterior that Yunho’s been witness to, the way he takes care of Mingi, seeks Seonghwa out for long, drawn-out hugs, the kisses he leaves on Wooyoung’s forehead. Something in Yunho breaks a little at the thought that all of them have suffered in some way. 

But despite everything, all the knowledge they share, it feels like they’re only telling him superficial things; like there’s still an invisible chasm. Yunho reassures himself that not a lot of time has passed, that they must not trust him completely yet. 

It’s apparent in the way he’s kept in the dark about Seonghwa’s ongoing visions, San’s visceral reaction to them everytime it happens. He tries to forget about it, figuring that if it was something important, Eden would inform him. But then he witnesses Seonghwa have a vision when they’re all in the middle of dinner. 

It starts out of nowhere. One moment Seonghwa’s laughing, throwing his head back at something Mingi says and everyone is jovial. Then suddenly he freezes and Yunho watches in horror as his eyes turn milky-white and blood pours out from them, like a stream of bloody tears. He’s shaking, body trembling violently, and Yunho has the urge to hold him, help him in some way but Yeosang yells at them to back off, wrapping a hand around Seonghwa’s shoulders and massaging his forehead, murmuring something in his ear. 

It seems like hours pass by but when the vision passes, Seonghwa sags, unconscious and Yeosang and Jongho have to carry him out of the room. Yunho watches them go, heart pounding, hands flexing at his side helplessly. San comes up behind him and rubs his tense arm. 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. It’s happened before, it’s just- it’s a little stronger this time. It keeps getting stronger,” San murmurs as if he isn’t really talking to Yunho at all. 

He wants to bring it up and ask Seonghwa about them, but everytime he plucks up the courage he’s put off by the way they seem hesitant about sharing their lives before their time in the Bureau. He tries to forget about it; he has enough to worry about anyway, the muddled memories floating around in his head like a constant omen. 

And yet, he dwells on it even during his sessions with Jiwoo, moping around like a kicked puppy. At least Jiwoo has the kindness to not comment on it, and Yunho notices how there’s a pleasant change in his mood every time they finish a session. As if Jiwoo’s pouring calmness and reassurance into his mind. He’s beyond grateful for her quiet support. 

He’s sprawled on one of the tiny stools in the lab, waiting for Jiwoo to finish setting up her files. She’s been distracted recently, pulls away from Yunho after each reading with a deep, creasing furrow on her forehead, muttering softly to herself. Yunho can sense her frustration, her confusion and he relates, because it’s exactly what he feels. He hadn’t thought that his childhood would play any importance in his life; he’d had the naive notion that he could start over here, be better than he was. 

“That’s what we all want, don’t we? To shed our past selves and simply begin anew.” Jiwoo speaks without even glancing at him. “But I think you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. None of what you went through was your fault. And we’re doing good work here, we’re helping you remember yourself, remember everything and piece your life together,” she assures him. Then she frowns, swivelling around in her chair and giving Yunho a contemplative look. 

“I think it goes beyond just helping you control your transformations though,” she muses. “There are- I keep seeing these images all over your memories, like a stamp or a seal of some kind. What I saw the day we met, these strange symbols. That’s why I’ve been trying to pick out the memories of the orphanage because these symbols are religious.” 

“But I’m not religious like- I don’t really think of that at all. I barely even remembered the orphanage after I left it,” he protests. 

“I know, you seem to have no affiliation with the church or organised religion of any kind apart from that orphanage. I- in our last session, where we finally dredged up the creature. I saw something interesting, a strange symbol that I’ve never come across before,” she murmurs. “Yunho, tell me if this is familiar.” 

She gets up and moves to one of the computers, typing rapidly and an image comes up on the screen. It’s vaguely familiar because there are religious icons all over it. A five-pointed star surrounded by a seven-pointed star, covered in crosses, words in a foreign language, and bordered by a circle, inscribed with the same language, the same repeating words. It looks complex and meaningful but Yunho has no recognition of it. 

He says as much and Jiwoo purses her lips. 

“It’s called the Seal of God.  _ Sigillum Dei Aemeth. _ It’s not very well-known, it’s essentially an amulet, and from what I could find in the Bureau’s database, it gives the wearer divine power. There’s no record of any being ever wearing it though, so it seems to be a fictional or perhaps, a theorised magickal object.” 

She turns to him, gesturing at the screen. “This is what I see in your mind, Yunho, floating over your memories,  _ especially  _ the ones from the orphanage.” 

“Are you saying I somehow have the power of this amulet?” He asks dubiously and almost feels insulted when Jiwoo scoffs. 

“No, I think I would have noticed if you were housing the power of God, Yunho. Like I said, it’s more like an image. As if you saw it somewhere and it’s seared in your memory now. But I wonder, where exactly would you have seen this in the orphanage? I doubt that a chrisitian organisation would have magickal,  _ occult  _ symbols lying around.” 

“I-I have absolutely no idea,” he sighs wearily. “This is getting far more complicated than it was supposed to be. God I-my head hurts. At this point, I actually miss not knowing what I was, I don’t think I’m prepared for  _ any  _ of this,” he confesses, and it seems to bloom into his mind like a revelation. This is exactly how he’s been feeling: overwhelmed and  _ exhausted _ . And alone, despite being surrounded by people, he’s still so lonely. 

Jiwoo stares at him, and Yunho expects her to laugh but she just smiles kindly. 

“Oh Yunho, you’re not alone. I know how you feel, even for me, this is overwhelming. I’ve never had to work so hard with someone’s mind before, it’s new and confusing. You think that me and the others, we’re distant from you, that we don’t trust you. Like we’re separating ourselves from you and that makes you feel othered,” she says softly. Yunho bristles in embarrassment. By this point, he shouldn’t be surprised by the way Jiwoo can see right through him. 

“I wish you weren’t a goddamn telepath,” he grumbles and Jiwoo roars with laughter. 

“Sorry, your thoughts really are far too loud, Yunho. You wear your emotions on your sleeve, I don’t even need to read your mind to know what you’re feeling,” she teases. 

“But you’re not going through this alone. About the others not being honest with you, you know, you can just ask them about it. I know they don’t seem to like volunteering information about themselves but they’ll answer your questions if you ask. They’re kind, and fond of you,” she says, giving him a significant look. “Trust me, I would know.” She taps her nose with her index finger and beams. Yunho rolls his eyes, leaning back on the chair he’s sitting on, sighing heavily. 

“How far exactly is your range? Like, how many people can you read?” 

“Too many people, Jeong Yunho. Too many. And most of them are thinking about sex. Especially Seonghwa and Yeosang, for fuck’s sake, those two are so annoying, I don’t even need to search for their thoughts-”

“ _ Okay _ , I really didn’t have to know that. I feel like I see enough of them being disgusting anyways.” Seonghwa and Yeosang are constantly all over each other, so mad about each other, Yunho is fond but nauseated. 

“Anyway, you should talk to them more Yunho. I think they’re also waiting for you to open up a little.” 

He hums. “I-I don’t know if I should, I still feel like- I’m distant from them,” he confesses because even now, almost a month in this house, he feels like he’s not that close with any of them. 

“That’s not true and you know it. Just talk to them, I promise. They’re all going through their own things, Yunho. They’ve all  _ been  _ through their own shit, just like you. Hell, so have I. You aren’t alone and I’m going to keep saying it until you get it. Otherwise, I’m going to take control of your mind and convince you of it if I have to,” Jiwoo mutters angrily. Yunho shudders in response, making a mental note to never  _ ever  _ underestimate the deceivingly cheery telepath. 

“Here, I’ll volunteer some information. When I was six, I had no hold over my powers and I drove my mother to insanity until she killed herself,” Jiwoo says in a matter of fact voice and Yunho gapes. 

“W-what-”

“My father couldn’t stand to even look at me and sent me away and I grew up in an orphanage just like you. By the time I was thirteen, I was responsible for the deaths of at least four more people. Though no one knew it was me. I finally got a hold over my powers when I met Sooyoung in high school. She was like me, but her powers were telekinetic. For the first time, I felt like I wasn’t alone. Sooyoung and I learnt how to control our abilities and we met Chaewon and Hyejoo, who also had disruptive, debilitating powers but we stuck together and took care of each other. When the Bureau found us, we started working together and well, here we are.

“Those girls are my family, my best friends. They saved my life. Which is why you should give that group of people upstairs a chance. They’re all you’ll have Yunho.” 

Yunho stares at her cherubic, heart-shaped smile and feels himself tearing up.

“I’m so sorry, that sounds- god that sounds like hell.” 

Jiwoo tilts her head and shrugs. “Yeah it was. But I know I’m not the only one who went through something like this. And that comforts me. So go, go make friends! Talk about your feelings and bond! Make me proud!” 

She pushes him out of the lab with a surprising amount of strength for someone that small, laughing loudly at his sputters of surprise. He wanders around the facility for a while then makes his way up to the house. It’s quiet, a surprising change, almost calm and he heads straight to the library. When he enters, the lights are dim and flickering faintly but he can make out a body lying across one of the sofas, flicking through the pages of a book. The person lifts their head up and before Yunho even sees his face, he recognises him by scent alone. 

“Hey, you,” San murmurs, giving Yunho a tiny, dimpled smile and then flopping back onto the sofa. Yunho realises the lights are dim because San hasn’t switched any on; he’s lit the ornate candelabras lying around and it casts the room in a soft, warm glow. It feels- nice- calm and intimate. Yunho’s unsure if he should join San or leave the room and he’s shifting on his feet when San peers at him again with wide eyes. 

“Can I lie on your lap? These sofas are so goddamn uncomfortable.” Yunho shuffles into the room and towards San who sits up and pats the space behind him. Yunho sits down and immediately has a lapful of San’s hair, his head pillowed on Yunho’s thigh. San sighs softly and resumes flicking through the book in his hand. Yunho stares at his profile: the sharpness of his cheekbones, the aquiline nose, and watches the way his eyes widen animatedly as he reacts to whatever he’s reading. He’s so ridiculously pretty. 

San chuckles suddenly and looks at Yunho with twinkling eyes, and Yunho realises that he must have said that out loud. His cheeks flush intensely and he clears his throat. 

“Thank you, I get it from my mother,” San quips, turning over on Yunho’s lap and staring up at him, still smiling in that mischievous, teasing way. “How was the session with Jiwoo? I feel like everytime I see you, you look more and more tired,” he says, reaching a hand up and tugging lightly at Yunho’s chin playfully. Yunho tries not to blush even harder. 

“Um. They’re okay. She’s kinda ruthless but also amazing. She’s been dead set on trying to get me to remember stuff from my childhood because she thinks it’s linked to my abilities,” he answers and San hums, a high-pitched, engaged sound. 

“Is that what you guys are doing? She’s bringing up your memories? Are there things you don’t remember?” San asks curiously. Yunho frowns down at him, confused for a moment until he realises that he hadn’t exactly spoken to any of them about his sessions with Jiwoo. He’d just assumed that Eden must have told them. 

“Oh, uh, yeah. I have huge gaps in my memories and I thought that it was mostly my transformations that I don’t remember. But apparently it’s anything related to supernatural stuff? Like all the times I’ve witnessed anything out of the ordinary has been locked away.” 

“Woah, that’s strange. Do you have any idea why?” Yunho is momentarily distracted by the way San’s eyes glint in the golden light of the room and he almost forgets to answer the question. 

“Y-yeah. I mean, not really actually. We thought that maybe it just might be me associating bad, traumatic stuff with the supernatural. But Jiwoo thinks there’s more, she thinks it’s linked to an orphanage I lived in when I was a toddler, up to the age of 7 or 8 maybe. She says I seem to have subconsciously absorbed religious teachings or something from there and there’s some kind of connection. She says she keeps seeing symbols.” 

San frowns, lips pushed out in a confused pout. He scratches at his stomach absently and then tugs Yunho’s hand over onto his chest, playing with his fingers like he’s fidgeting. It’s exceedingly adorable. 

“That really is odd. I’m sorry, that must be very difficult to relive,” he murmurs, giving Yunho a sad smile and it feels like the most transparent San has ever been with him. 

“I-it is, yeah. Much more than I thought it would be,” he says quietly. Then, before he loses his courage, he rambles on, “Actually, we- Jiwoo says she sees something called the Seal of God? It’s all over my-”

San sits up abruptly. His face is so close like this, Yunho can see the light smattering of freckles on his skin clearly. San seems unbothered by the distance though, staring at Yunho, eyes piercing. 

“Seal of God? Two stars, with a circular border. The names of angels inscribed all over?” 

“I-yeah, I don’t know about the names but yeah-”

San shifts so he’s sitting on his haunches, still staring at Yunho intently like he’s trying to take a glimpse at Yunho’s brain. He looks perturbed, chewing at the inside of his cheek. 

“I’ve seen that before. A magician’s notebooks, he was obsessed with it, obsessed with learning how to cast it,” San murmurs, eyes darting. He catches Yunho’s eyes, the befuddled expression on Yunho’s face and sighs. 

“I once knew a magician, an occultist, an English man named John Dee,” San explains and something blooms in the back of Yunho’s head. John Dee? He’s heard the name before, recently, something about a demon-

“Oh! The painting? Seonghwa showed me a painting when I woke up here. He said it was possessed and he mentioned John Dee.” 

“Yes, yes, the same man! I received that painting from him, you know, I was the only one who could take care of it. I met him a very long time ago, he would collect knowledge about the unknown, particularly the divine, demons and angels and all that jazz.” San waves his hands in the air in an exaggerated motion and gives Yunho a cheeky smile. “I remember the Seal you speak of, he made extensive notes on it, spoke about how it would grant the wearer immense power, power to change the world. He believed the wearer could attain all divine knowledge,  _ aemeth _ , the truth. He even constructed an amulet based on what he’d learned but to my knowledge, it never worked.” 

Yunho stares at San, slack-jawed. “You met this man? Seonghwa said he lived during the  _ Victorian  _ Age. How could you have possibly met him?” 

San grins, raising an eyebrow. “Well, you still have to guess, don’t you?” Then he huffs, and slithers on to Yunho’s lap in one fluid motion, rubbing his cheek into Yunho’s thigh distractedly. Yunho wonders if San’s aware of the effect he has on him, if he’s doing this purposely. San yawns, a wide, high-pitched sound and frowns up at Yunho, blinking his eyes. 

“Jiwoo’s right. That girl is smarter than anyone here. It’s immensely strange that this is a symbol you seem to have memories of. Especially from a Christian orphanage. Has Eden looked into this place?” 

“Yeah, apparently their records are clean. Nothing that seems suspicious at all.”

“Hmm. That’s not good enough. I think we should scope this place out in person, remind me to tell Eden. We should figure this out, it’s- what with Seonghwa’s visions as well, it’s worrying me,” San mutters, scratching at his nose absently. 

“I-Can I,” Yunho begins the question, faltering at the sight of San watching him intently, hanging on to his every word. “Can I ask what Seonghwa sees? Like, what are his visions about?” 

He almost expects San to ignore him, maybe avoid the question and ask him to talk to Seonghwa about it. But San purses his lips and sighs heavily. 

“His visions recently, since before you arrived, have been glimpses of stone and iron chains. He says he feels like he’s strapped in a coffin made of stone, bound by iron chains. A few weeks ago, he dreamt of water, of floating in water, of being followed by some strange, beastly creature. The visions- they’re vague, make no sense at all, but something about them- they feel like omens. Like bad omens. And that’s what worries me,” San says fretfully, biting into his bottom lip absently. Yunho has the urge to pull at the lip and before he can stop himself, he reaches out and pulls out San’s lip from his teeth, brushing away the tiny smear of blood that stains it. Then he freezes, about to stutter out an apology when San shakes his head slightly and holds onto Yunho’s thumb, curling his fingers around it, rubbing the skin gently, tugging at it like he’s fidgeting with a toy. Yunho can’t find it in himself to mind. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

San gives him a lopsided smile. “I wish. But we can’t do anything until the Bureau decides that this is worth taking seriously. Eden can only do so much, the poor man. We just have to wait,” he says, despondent. “Thank you for offering. You’re so unfailingly kind Yunho, I hope you know that.” 

San says it so easily, so sincerely, it makes his heart thud. “No, I-”

“Don’t protest, I can feel it,” San cuts him off, pressing his palm into Yunho’s chest, fingers splayed out. It feels like the warmth from San’s skin seeps into Yunho, and he wonders if San can feel the way his heart is racing. “It’s part of who I am, I can sense your goodness. Your heart is pure and your guilt is unfounded, sweet boy,” San murmurs, eyes boring into his. It’s almost worse than the way Jiwoo reads his mind, almost like San’s staring into his very soul. He doesn’t know what to say, can’t look away from San’s face, the way his lips are parted, the way he still caresses Yunho’s chest comfortingly. He wants to lean down, gather San up in his arms and-

“Oh hey, there you guys are.  _ Ooh,  _ you two look cosy.” 

Yunho jerks, head whipping up to see Wooyoung leaning against a bookshelf, leering at them with a shit-eating grin on his face. San snorts, sitting up and stretching. Yunho immediately misses his warmth, feels his hands fumble in his lap like he doesn’t know what to do with them. Wooyoung whines, shaking his leg like a petulant child. 

“No, don’t get up, I wanna cuddle with Yunho too! He’s so big and broad and warm, isn’t he Sannie?” Wooyoung gives San a meaningful look and San hisses at him like a cat, leaning into Yunho’s side and glaring at Wooyoung. Yunho watches the exchange between them in confusion and finds himself even more perplexed when he notices that San’s cheeks have reddened. 

Wooyoung cackles obnoxiously, then composes himself, pointing at the two of them. 

“Anyway, I was sent to find you guys. Get ready, we’re going out.” 

“Wait, where?” 

“Fuck, finally, I was going crazy,” San mutters in relief, standing up and cracking his back with a deep groan. He turns around and holds a hand out to Yunho, beaming in excitement. 

“Come on. We’re going to take you to the Troll Market.” 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


“I think this goes without saying. Eden, or  _ anyone  _ at the Bureau, cannot know about this. They still think the Troll Market is an old-wives tale. We’d like to keep it that way.”

Seonghwa eyes Yunho, steely and expectant. It’s the most serious Yunho has ever seen him. He nods furiously and stammers, “Of course, I wouldn’t- I promise-”

Seonghwa’s face transforms, eyes crinkling up, sharp teeth tucked into a sweet smile. “Good! Now, let’s go, I need to get my hands on some lotus cakes, I have  _ cravings _ ,” he groans, walking ahead and swinging his arms around Yeosang. His fancy shoes make loud, clicking noises on the pavement and Yunho can hear Wooyoung cackling and teasing Seonghwa about them up ahead. 

They’d snuck out through some secret door Yunho had barely caught a glimpse of before he’d been pushed out, crawling through a dark, burrowed space until they were out outside the fences of Eden’s house, beyond the sprawling gardens. Sneaking out like children in the midst of the night. 

And it really does feel like that; it’s sometime past midnight and the moon sits snug in the sky, between puffs of dark clouds. The night is warm and comfortable and a soft breeze sifts through the air, brushing against Yunho’s skin like a pleasant touch. They’re walking to the bus stop, which Yunho finds endlessly amusing. But apparently they need to get to the inner city and none of them has any other means of transportation. 

Hongjoong had placed glamours on all of them, especially the ones with unusual physical attributes, to make them all look human. It’s so strange, to look at Wooyoung and see smooth skin and a bright, fangless smile, to see Yeosang without his tails. They almost look  _ normal _ , like college kids on their way to a night out, young and carefree. Sitting in the bus with his knees bumping against San’s, watching the way Mingi and Hongjoong hold each other’s hands and giggle. He almost feels like they are. A surreal vision, as if in another life, in another world, they might have been. 

They get down on the edge of a bridge and Yunho follows the rest as they make their way down to the bottom of the bridge, no one walking around giving them any kind of attention. They reach an enclosure, a seedy crevice on the banks of the river, the sound of water lapping at the cement echoing in the distance. It’s colder here, as if the air is pocketed and there’s a strange heaviness all around. It weighs Yunho down, making his skin prickle. 

San unlocks the enclosure and they step in. The place seems to be a small warehouse, boxes and other paraphernalia lying around, gathering dust. It doesn’t really seem like much and Yunho looks around curiously, trying to catch sight of anything interesting, anything out of the ordinary. He sees nothing but dust and filth. He sneezes violently and almost doesn’t hear Jongho calling out for him. 

“Yunho, here!” 

They’re gathered around a large steel door, waiting for him. Yunho jogs up to them and as he comes closer he realises the door has faint etchings all over it, unfamiliar, coiled symbols, words in a foreign language, carved into the metal. There’s a small panel on the side and Jongho pries it open easily. Inside is what looks like a complex, clockwork puzzle, knobs and blocks pieced together. 

“The Troll Market has been the best-kept secret of our kind. For aeons, we’ve maintained it. It’s the only place where all of our kind can mingle freely, regardless of who we are and where we come from. It’s where I grew up,” Jongho says softly, reaching out with a hand and moving the pieces of the puzzle around with dexterity, hands moving so fast that Yunho can barely see them. Suddenly, a clicking sound echoes loudly and Jongho steps back with a small smile on his face. “And of course, only a troll can solve the code and open the entrance.” The metal doors creak and groan and slowly, with a  _ whoosh _ , they open, unlocking a cacophony of noises, strange smells, a whole world of people bustling around. 

“Welcome to the Troll Market, Yunho.” 

Yunho follows them in, mouth lax with shock. It’s like they’ve stepped into another part of the world. Yunho can’t see the end, no corners, just a sprawling expanse of odd creatures, beasts hulking around, market stalls and open fires, winding streets and the  _ sounds _ , so loud and strange and almost comforting in the bizarre way markets always are, chaotic and enveloping. He’s lagging behind, can barely see where the others are and he begins to sweat in the heat. 

A hand slips into his and squeezes. Yunho looks up to see San give him a reassuring smile, eyes scrunched up. “Come, I’ll guide you. It’s easy to get lost here.”

They walk slowly, weaving between the crowd, and San speaks to him as they walk, pointing things out to him. Yunho struggles to keep up a bit, scared of stepping on a foot or a tail, or on the goopy sludge that some of the creatures seem to leave on the ground. He can’t stop staring at the creatures around him; some of them look like they could be human, the only distinctly inhuman features being their red eyes, or a strange, polished sheen to their skin. Some are so grotesquely different, they look like animals mashed up together. A set of horns on the head of what looks like a tiger, a lumbering creature walking by with its long, serpentine tongue hanging out of its mouth, a tiny, squat creature with no face, only a wide, open mouth, lined with sharp teeth, angled towards Yunho as he walks by. They stare at him a lot, stopping in their tracks and following him as San tugs him forward. It makes his skin crawl and Yunho can hear the beast grumbling in his head, waiting, like a snake coiled to strike. 

“Most of them are goblins or lesser demons,” San whispers in his ear. “They are harmless, especially to you.” 

“Demons?” He didn’t think demons looked like  _ that.  _ San giggles, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. 

“There are many demons, Yunho, many different kinds of demons. The big ones, with the long tongues?  _ Rakshasas _ . Man-eating demons. Some of them actually look like humans, beautiful women with long, black hair who prey on innocent passersby. The small ones are little fae creatures. They live in forests and will eat absolutely anything they can get their hands on. Nasty little things,” San mutters, glaring at one of the faceless creatures with disdain. He catches sight of something in the distance and lights up with glee. 

“Look! This is my favourite thing to eat here,” he exclaims, pulling Yunho towards a stall where a tray of what look like round, pink cakes sit. They’re shaped like roses, decorated with what looks like gold dust. They smell absolutely divine, like roses and vanilla. San beams at the seller, an elderly woman with one eye, smack in the middle of her forehead. He says something to her in a different language and tosses over a tiny, square block, like a wooden totem. The woman pockets it and gestures to the biscuits. San picks two up and hands one to Yunho. 

“I call them love cakes but I don’t know what they’re really called. Made from roses that bloom only on full moons and a bunch of other enchanted stuff. They kinda give you a boost of energy and happiness. My mother used to make these for me whenever I felt sad or down when I was a child. She called them love cakes because she said they were filled with her love for me,” San tells Yunho, his voice pitched low and gentle, like he’s reminiscing a distant memory. Then he takes a big bite out of the cake and his eyes widen comically, face scrunched up with delight. Yunho follows suit and takes a bite, his mouth immediately filled with a burst of sweet, syrupy flavour. It really feels like he’s eating the very embodiment of happiness. 

They eat merrily and walk further into the market, San still holding on to his palm tightly, giggling and stopping at different stalls to show Yunho strange, magical objects. Yunho feels the most content he ever remembers being, and even the monstrous creatures walking around them don’t bother him. They’re standing in front of a small store, an old, crumbled down sign reading ‘ _ Apothecary _ ’ hanging on top when suddenly, a strange beeping noise pierces the air. 

San frowns, stilling, then lets go of Yunho’s hand to pat at his clothes frantically. He pulls out a small, square device from his front pocket and stares at it. The beeping seems to be coming from the device, accompanied by a bright, pulsing red light. Yunho’s skin prickles with a familiar, uneasy sensation. 

“San! Yunho! We need to go.” Yeosang appears in front of them, Seonghwa by his side. They look worried, bodies tense. San makes a small, confused noise. A heady fog fills Yunho’s head and he wonders if the cake is making him feel unusually dopey. Yeosang and Seonghwa look almost hazy in his vision. His head is beginning to hurt just a little. 

“What-”

“I don’t know, I got a call from Eden, he says they picked up weird signals. I told him to pick us up on the bridge, they’ll be here soon.”

“What does that mean? Is it an emergency or-”

“I don’t know-”

They argue back and forth and Yunho struggles to listen to them through the haze in his head. He feels like he’s hearing them while underwater, their voices muted and muffled. The beast is unusually quiet in his head and he’s about to raise a hand up, clutch at San and ask for help when something appears in the corner of his eye. 

He turns around to see something dark, a humanoid figure standing behind them. Yunho glances at the others but they haven’t seemed to have noticed this figure at all. The figure comes closer until Yunho can see it clearly and he almost screams in shock. 

It’s the priest, wearing a black cassock, hollow eyes trained on Yunho, mouth pulled into a small smile. Yunho can see him so clearly while everything else remains blurry. It’s like he’s suspended in time, everything slowed down, like an insect wading through a vat of honey. 

“Yunho, we’ve been looking for you.” The creature speaks in the same dulcet tone Yunho remembers, voice emotionless. The beast doesn’t react, doesn’t make a single noise and Yunho begins to panic, misses the familiar anger, the growl that should be coursing through his mind. 

“Who-who are you? Why are you looking for me?”

The creature smiles wider, mouth opening to reveal oddly large, sharpened teeth. 

“You feel empty without the rage of the beast, don’t you? I can help you, Yunho. I can help you embrace yourself.” 

“What the fuck- why do you know so much about me?”

“I know everything Yunho. Especially how unaware you are of your power. You are the key, the All Father’s chosen. You will lead us to redemption. And now, it is time for you to remember.” 

The creature reaches out with a finger and the last thing Yunho sees before he falls into a deep, dreamless sleep is San’s distraught face, screaming his name. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i thrive off of comments, i would love to hear what you guys think!!
> 
> twt is fightmehyuk !!

**Author's Note:**

> pls leave a kudos/comment if you liked it!


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